Film Review: The Rookie (2002)
What many American boys, at least those in 20th Century, had dreamt about, became reality for the protagonist of The Rookie, 2002 sports biopic directed by John Lee Hancock. Young Jim Morris (played by Trevor Morgan) wanted to professional baseball player, competing in MLB. But after promising start, his career was cut short by series of injuries and surgical operations so Morris, now as a grown man (played by Dennis Quaid), must reconcile with less glamorous job of high school physics teacher in small town of Park Lane, Texas. The only contact with baseball is high school team he coaches and tries to advance in regional championship. The team doesn’t fare well until players realise that their coach has unusual pitching skills. Joaquin “Wack” Campos (played by Jay Hernandez), one of the players, makes a pact with Morris – if they win the championship, he would offer his services as player to MLB teams. When the championship is won, Morris reluctantly and with opposition by his wife Lori (played by Rachel Griffiths) decides to make his side of the bargain. While MLB scouts are impressed with his skills, they are doubtful over his old age at first they send him to minor leagues so Morris has to travel around the country with players young enough to be his children. But his moment finally arrives and he is brought to Tampa Bay Devil Rays and has his chance for pitching in game against Texas Rangers.
The Rookie shows Hollywood’s ability to make big story out of something that could be seen as banal and uninteresting. Despite Morris getting attention as one of the oldest MLB Major League rookies, he wasn’t exactly household name except the most ardent fans of America’s favourite pastime. Morris had good fortune to have one of Hollywood’s producers as his best friend, so it became almost inevitable that his story would be turn another screen fairy tale. Produced by Disney, The Rookie takes predictable route of celebrating family values and personal sacrifices needed to make American Dream a reality. Despite predictability and sentimentalism, The Rookie works because of high professionalism and skill of those behind and in front of camera. Dennis Quaid is good in one of the rare starring roles at the latter stages of his career, while Rachel Griffiths and Brian Cox (playing protagonist’s father) are more than satisfactory. Direction by John Lee Hancock is also good and two hours of running time pass very quickly. Carter Burwell’s soundtrack is, on the other hand, quite disappointing, but The Rookie, despite such flaw, is more than solid piece of cinema that could be recommended to all those yearning for old-fashioned family entertainment.
RATING: 5/10 (++)
Blog in Croatian https://draxblog.com
Blog in English https://draxreview.wordpress.com/
Leofinance blog https://leofinance.io/@drax.leo
Cent profile https://beta.cent.co/@drax
Minds profile https://www.minds.com/drax_rp_nc
Uptrennd profile https://www.uptrennd.com/user/MTYzNA
Unstoppable Domains: https://unstoppabledomains.com/?ref=3fc23fc42c1b417
Hiveonboard: https://hiveonboard.com?ref=drax
Bitcoin Lightning HIVE donations: https://v4v.app/v1/lnurlp/qrcode/drax
Rising Star game: https://www.risingstargame.com?referrer=drax
1Inch: https://1inch.exchange/#/r/0x83823d8CCB74F828148258BB4457642124b1328e
BTC donations: 1EWxiMiP6iiG9rger3NuUSd6HByaxQWafG
ETH donations: 0xB305F144323b99e6f8b1d66f5D7DE78B498C32A7
