Rookie

Theatrical Release Date: 2002 03 29 (USA)

UPC: 786936165432

Studio: Walt Disney Video

MPAA Rating: G   Contains:[Adult Situations, Suitable for Children]

Summary: The true story of a middle-aged baseball rookie comes to the screen from Finding Forrester (2000) screenwriter Mike Rich and the studio behind the previous year's equally inspirational sports drama Remember the Titans (2001). Twelve years ago, the pro baseball aspirations of Texas pitcher Jim Morris (Dennis Quaid) were derailed by a severe shoulder injury. Jim became a high school science teacher and baseball coach, married his sweetheart, Lorri (Rachel Griffiths), and settled down to raise a family. After corrective surgery repairs, despite the longstanding damage to his shoulder, Jim discovers that he can pitch a ball even faster than he could before. When his team delivers a lackluster on-field performance in a losing game, coach and players agree to a wager: If they'll make it to the district championships, he'll try out for a major league ball club. When his team makes it to the championship and wins for the first time in the school's history, Jim is forced to live up to his end of the bargain. Nearly laughed off the field, he confounds the pro scouts by tossing successive fastballs that clock at nearly 100 miles per hour. It seems that Jim is about to live his dream of joining a major league team in middle age, when most players are planning their retirement. The Rookie (2002) co-stars Brian Cox, Beth Grant, and Jay Hernandez. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi

Category: Drama

Awards: Best Live Action Family Film – Broadcast Film Critics Association Best Live Action Family Film – Broadcast Film Critics Association

Features: ccAudio commentary by Dennis Quaid and John Lee Hancock
Deleted scenes introduced by John Lee Hancock
"The Inspirational Story of Jim Morris" featurette
Spring Training: Tips from the Pros

Rookie

Format: Digital Video Disc (DVD)

Release Date: 08/27/2002

Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Cinemascope

Audio: DD5.1 Dolby Digital 5.1

Runtime: 127 Minutes

Sides: 1

Number of Discs: 1

Language(s) English,French

Subtitles: Spanish

Chapters: Side #1 --
1. Opening Credits/The Investment
2. "Welcome to Big Lake"
3. Coach's Arm
4. The Deal
5. Speed Limit 35
6. A Winning Season
7. "It's Your Turn, Coach!"
8. On the Mound
9. Family Concerns
10. Southern League
11. Brook's Confession
12. Jimmy's Dream
13. The Major Leagues
14. "Morris, You're IN!"
15. "Thanks for Coming"
16. The Investment Paid Off/End Credits

Karl Williams

Stylish and well-crafted, this sports melodrama doesn't offer up much that is new in its oft-clich?d milieu, but the well-traveled paths down which it trods are reliable ones. If not for the film's badly distended running time it might have ended up, despite its lack of originality, in a genuinely affecting place. It's too bad that director John Lee Hancock and screenwriter Mike Rich don't get that their project is fundamentally G-rated schmaltz that's been road-tested and sanitized for Middle American bourgeois viewing. There's nothing wrong with candy corn cinema when it's self-aware, but the filmmakers seem to be laboring under the delusion that they're crafting a 21st century Field of Dreams (1989) instead of the latest family-friendly Disney concoction. The bloated two-hours-plus length betrays their pretensions, with nearly every scene slogging on long past the point where it should have been cut. The Rookie is definitely not a bad film; it benefits from its factual origins enough that the third-act payoff is genuinely affecting, and the performance by Dennis Quaid is thankfully free of irony or self-pity. It's just that the art of editing at either the script or at the final cut stage could have helped tremendously to disguise the artificiality that's being employed to manipulate viewers. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi

Cast and Crew: Carter Burwell  Composer (Music Score) 
Mark Johnson  Producer 
John Lee Hancock  Director 
Philip Steuer  Executive Producer 
Mike Rich  Screenwriter 
Mark Ciardi  Producer 
Gordon Gray  Producer 
Dennis Quaid  Actor 
Rachel Griffiths  Actor 
Jay Hernandez  Actor 
Beth Grant  Actor 
Angus T. Jones  Actor 
Brian Cox  Actor 
Rick Gonzalez  Actor 
Chad Lindberg  Actor 
Angelo Spizzirri  Actor 
Royce D. Applegate  Actor 
Russell Richardson  Actor 
Raynor Scheine  Actor 
David Blackwell  Actor 
Blue Deckert  Actor 
Dan Kamin  Actor 
Trevor Morgan  Actor 

Country: USA