Karry Best movie of this year hands down!

Cleveronix A different way of telling a story

mraculeated The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

Frances Chung Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

g-bodyl The Rookie is actually a better movie than I thought it would be. It's heart-warming and just a perfect family film. Yes, it may be overly-clichéd but because of the top-notch performances and the theme of an old-timer realizing his dreams, we can't but help enjoy this film. It also ranks up with one of the best baseball films I have ever seen.John Lee Hancock's film is about a guy named Jim Morris who was a highly-touted baseball prospect but he was always injured. Years later, he is a chemistry teacher and baseball coach in Texas when he realizes he still may have some pitches left in him. Because of that, he begins to realize he may pitch in the majors after all.The acting is very good. Dennis Quaid brings earnesty and hope to his character and we see why Dennis Quaid is one of the nicest guys in film business. Brian Cox has a nice supporting turn as his stern, disapproving father.Overall, this is a very good film thanks to some high quality performances and a wonderful script. This is an excellent sports film and an even better baseball film. I have to point out this film is not just about baseball, but about some guy making his dreams come true after he thought all is done. I rate this film 9/10.

Prismark10 A rather likable and old fashioned tale. Its a film in two halves where you first see Dennis Quaid as a High school baseball coach who is persuaded to try out as a professional pitcher late in life.The second half of the film is his search to be the oldest Rookie in the major league. Armed with a demon pitch, he can thrown the ball at over 90 miles per hour, he is taken seriously from the off.The film defies expectations, there are no villains, not much of the old timer jokes, very little in the way of chicanery. A rare films where everybody is nice to each other and a genuine lack of cynicism, especially as it is based on a true story.

wes-connors "Jim Morris (Dennis Quaid), father, teacher, and high school coach, thought his dream was over. He'd had his shot playing baseball, blew out his shoulder, and retired without ever making it to the big leagues. Then, in 1999, Coach Morris made a fateful bet with his perpetually losing team. If they won the district championship, Morris - who threw a 98 mph fastball - would try out for the majors. The team went from worst to first, and Jim, living up to his end of the bargain, threw caution to the wind and was on the road to becoming the oldest rookie in the major leagues…" according to the official studio synopsis.This "feel good / family" movie is nicely played, but blandly fictionalized. As the thirtysomething man receiving a second chance at major league baseball stardom, Mr. Quaid is very believable. His character seems unnaturally distant from family members, which makes you yearn for more physical and emotional contact - perhaps, this is intentional. Quaid is closer to his likewise too old high school students: Jay Hernandez (as Joaquin "Wack" Campos), Rick Gonzalez (as Rudy Bonilla), Chad Lindberg (as Joe David West), and Angelo Spizzirri (as Joel De La Garza). Along with rookie pal Russell Richardson (as Brooks), the younger baseball players are excellent, and give the Quaid and the film heart.That Mr. Spizzirri is among the standout young performers - he is immediately impressive, as Coach Quaid's high school catcher kid - makes the sadness of his untimely death linger. Curvaceous Rachel Griffiths (as Lorri Morris), appropriately distant Brian Cox (as Jim Morris Sr.), and "Two and a Half Men" star Angus T. Jones (as Hunter Morris) are the family who could have stood some deeper characterization. The song played over the end credits, "Some Dreams" by Steve Earle, fits the film like a glove: "Some dreams don't ever come true… aw, but some dreams do." ***** The Rookie (3/26/02) John Lee Hancock ~ Dennis Quaid, Rachel Griffiths, Angelo Spizzirri

zardoz-13 Once upon a time Hollywood produced live-action, G-rated movies without foul language, immorality, and gore-splattered violence. These movies neither insulted your intelligence no manipulated your emotions. The heroes differed little from the crowd. They shared the same feelings and bore the same burdens. Since the 1970s, the film industry has pretty much written off G-rated movies for adults. Basically, modern mature audiences demand large doses of embellished realism for their cinematic diet, laced heavily with vile profanity, mattress-thumping sex, and knuckle-bruising fisticuffs. These ingredients constitute the difference between G-rated movies and those rated either PG or PG-13.Miraculously, director John Lee Hancock, who penned scripts for Clint Eastwood's "A Perfect World" (1993) and "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" (1997), hits a home run with this G-rated, feel-good, four-bagger of a baseball epic that not only celebrates America's favorite summer time sport, but also extols the competitive spirit of the game. Essentially, "The Rookie" resembles the 1984 Robert Redford saga "The Natural" about an old-time slugger who makes a comeback. Unlike "The Natural," "The Rookie" shuns swearing, sex, and violence.Moreover, rugged Dennis Quaid plays a real-life individual. Jim Morris' autobiography, "The Oldest Rookie: Big-League Dreams from a Small-Town Guy," served as the basis for Mike "Finding Forrester") Rich's unpretentious, Norman Rockwell-style screenplay about white, middle-class aspirations. Morris attained his dream when he debuted on the mound as a relief pitcher in 1999. Although it doesn't belong in the same league with the inspirational James Stewart classic "The Stratton Story" (1949), "The Rookie" qualifies as the kind of movie that Hollywood rarely makes anymore because audiences find them antiquated.Hancock and Rich encapsulate their entertaining oddball biography in a halo of mysticism. A wildcat oil prospector convinces two Catholic nuns back in the 1920s to bankroll a West Texas well. Fearing they have blown their bucks on an ill-advised fantasy, the sisters blanket the arid terrain with rose petals and entreat St. Rita's patron saint of hopeless causes' to intervene. The well gushes! The Town of Big Lake emerges, and roughnecks swat at baseballs when they aren't drilling holes in the terrain. The spirit of baseball oozes from the earth like petroleum. Meanwhile, years later, the U.S. Navy doesn't keep Jim Morris, Sr., (Brian Cos of "Manhunter") and his family in one place long before uprooting them. The constant moving takes a toll on Jim Junior. Jim's dad shows little sympathy and berates baseball.Nevertheless, Jim has baseball in his blood, enough so that when he accepts a high school chemistry teacher's job in his Texas hometown, he organizes a baseball team. Like the foul-mouthed "Bad News Bears," "The Rookie" chronicles Jim's triumph at turning losers into winners. Morris promises the team if they reach the divisional playoffs, he will try out for a professional baseball team. Predictably, Morris' students maintain their end of the bargain. At age 35, Jim stuns the big league scouts when he hurls fastballs at 98 miles-per-hour! "The Rookie" never fouls out.