The Rookie (2002)

I love this movie so much

Great Film overall

Absolutely Fantastic

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

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.

Dennis Quaid is so good in this movie and I enjoyed the film 'The Rookie' tremendously. Sports movies sometimes are hard to put across but this fine film excels and all hands involved in this film deserve thanks for a fine effort. Mr. Quaid is so likable in this movie it is one of his best outings. I also liked the quasi religious theme in the beginning and end of the movie with the Catholic nuns. The Rookie is a fine movie extolling excellence and team sportsmanship. Fine supporting performances, fine cinematography. Fine everything. See this movie!!The Rookie would be a good spin off to a weekly TV showDavid Barra ARSports Ltd Los Angeles

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.

This is a feel good film, about one person's dreams and the drive or push to realize them. It is a beautiful and inspirational film. Why do some people have to try and find fault with every film that comes out, especially the good ones. Dennis Quaid gives a good solid performance in this true story of Jim Morris, a science teacher and high school baseball coach who is pushed by his team to take one more shot at a professional baseball career. With excellent supporting cast, including Brian Cox, as the crusty old ex navy officer who has let so much of his son's achievements go by without his support. It was good to see him as something other than a villain in a film. If I have one complaint with this film it is this: Don't ever let Royce Applegate sign the national anthem again. Seriously, this film belongs to that handful of great baseball films like "Field of Dreams" and "The Natural." It rates two thumbs up and a big "well done."