The Rookie

2002

Action / Drama / Family / Sport

31
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Certified Fresh 84% · 152 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Upright 70% · 50K ratings
IMDb Rating 6.9/10 10 38864 38.9K

sports parent child relationship baseball life's dream growing up

Director

John Lee Hancock Photo
John Lee Hancock

Top cast

John Williams Photo
John Williams as Orlando Umpire #1
Dennis Quaid Photo
Dennis Quaid as Jimmy Morris
Brian Cox Photo
Brian Cox as Jim Morris Sr.
Jay Hernandez Photo
Jay Hernandez as Joaquin 'Wack' Campos
720p.BLU 1080p.BLU
1.07 GB
1280*534
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles
23.976 fps
2 hr 7 min
Seeds 13
2.05 GB
1920*800
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles
23.976 fps
2 hr 7 min
Seeds 32

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by The_Wood 7 / 10

An adult film kids can enjoy; instead of a kids film that adults must tolerate. 7/10

As predictable as a Hallmark card, but not without merit, The Rookie makes for a solid outing. Dennis Quaid, the most reasonable jock actor working today, is absolutely perfect as the science teacher turned baseball player Jimmy Morris. The film is never dumbed down for the children, as would be expected from a G rated film. As a sports film, The Rookie is one of the best I have seen since Any Given Sunday.
Reviewed by McHuevo 7 / 10

2 for the price of 1

Following Disney's purest tradition, "The Rookie" tells a story of hope and believing in yourself.This film is actually a two-in-one combo. The first half is the story of the bad (baseball) team that, through some hard work and inspiration from their coach, come all the way from behind to win the championship. This movie we have seen tons of times ("Hardball", "Mighty Ducks", "Little Giants", etc, etc.). There are very few references to the Jimmy Morris tale during this first half.The second half is all about Jimmy Morris and his struggle to pursue a long lost dream: become a major league baseball player. He is driven to gain self-confidence, hope and ultimately courage to take a shot at his dream; even when he's old enough to be retiring from instead of entering professional baseball. On the other hand, he has a family to take care of and a decent job he would be turning down to go after a potential lost cause.All in all I think this movie is a story of courage. It takes lots of it to go after something you forgot you wanted more than anything; that and a very supporting family. The fact that this is a true story makes this point even more significant.The movie itself may seem a little bit too long for it's purpose, specially the first half which didn't need so much detail, but it takes its message across well enough.
Reviewed by NateWatchesCoolMovies 7 / 10

Not usually a fan of sports flicks, but this one rocks it

The Rookie is a wonderfully done underdog story, a film that easily wins us over and has us cheering in the protagonist's corner in the first act. Dennis Quaid plays Jimmy Morris, a blue blooded baseball fanatic who grew up with the game running in his blood and a bucket load of talent, but never the time to pursue it growing up. His working class father (Brian Cox) discourages that kind of ambitious and adopts a vaguely bitter worldview. And so he grows up, starts a family and the dream fades. His skill resurfaces when he coaches the town's high school baseball team. They take notice of his wildfire pitching arm, and make him a deal: if they win one championship, he takes a crack at the major leagues talent scout circuit. It's a pleasure watching an old dog like Quaid take a triumphant eleventh hour shot at success, and it makes for a fine film. Morris's fastball is a 90 plus mile an hour wunderkind and he is immediately drafted into the MLB despite his age. His family is overjoyed and he is filled with a new energy and love for life spurred on by his second chance at his passion. It's great stuff. Rachel Griffiths is solid as Jimmy's eternally supportive wife, Beth Grant is sweet as his mother and adorable Angus T. Jones makes good work of his doting son. It's Brian Cox who quietly steals the show as his father, a man soured by his own misplaced trajectory, who takes his damn time to come around and show some pride is his son. Cox is a deeply gifted pro who provides pools of gravity and anchors the film back on solid ground every time it veers towards excessive sentimentality. Especially his final, wrenching scene. A golden entry in the sports genre.
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