Rent The Rookie on Amazon Video (paid link)
Written by: Mike Rich
Directed by: John Lee Hancock
Starring: Dennis Quaid, JD Evermore, Rachel Griffiths, Jay Hernandez, Brian Cox
Rated: G
Watch the trailer
Plot
A Texas baseball coach makes the major leagues after agreeing to try out if his high school team made the playoffs.
Verdict
This is the wholesome, triumphant story you'd expect from Disney. Can he make his dream come true years later? That's the plot and this has the happy ending that's required for something like this. It's an easy, predictable movie.
It depends.
Review
Based on a true story, Jim Morris really did go from coaching high school ball to playing in the major leagues.
I don't know why this has such a big introduction to this oil town and the workers that played baseball. The mention of the patron saint of impossible dreams is an overt nod to this story before we cut to a kid that dreams of playing baseball, pitching in the big leagues.
A military father that thinks baseball is pointless provides the initial hurdle. From there Jim Morris (Dennis Quaid) is coaching high school baseball. When the team's catcher convinces Jim to throw heat, we see that Jim can still throw pretty well despite his age. It's a cute story where Jim begins to wonder what if. Jim knows he's too old. His team makes a deal. If they win the playoffs Jim has to try out. There's the drama of whether the team will win, but they do and Jim tries out.
No one expects Jim to excel at try outs. He defies the odds and throws a 98 mph fastball. It's faster than he's ever thrown. Now he's faced with the prospect of going to the minors despite his age, family, and this dream he gave up on a while ago. He's worried about his family and wondering if he's chasing a dream that's already gone.
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| Dennis Quaid plays Jim Morris |
I wish this didn't make it seem like all he throws is a fastball. He wouldn't get far on just one pitch. This movie doesn't capture baseball. I'd love to see just one wide shot of a stunt double throwing a pitch. All we get are close shots of Quaid's face and then the catcher's mitt to hide his lack of form.
It's almost a foregone conclusion that Jim will make it to the majors. When he walks into the clubhouse, he passes the jerseys of McGriff, Boggs, and Canseco. I had to look it up, but the Rays really did have those three on the roster at the same time. The uniform Jim wears is the 2002 Rays uniform when this movie released, not the 1999 uniform from the year Jim debuted.
I'm guessing it's dramatization that Jim happened to make his big league debut in Texas close to his hometown, but for a movie like this I don't blame it. That's what this movie is. This even manages to tie in some father son drama with a pay off. This really isn't a baseball movie, but it's a heartwarming true story.
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