Toon Talk: The Rookie
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Rachel Griffiths (currently basking in the glow of the success of Six Feet Under) plays Jimmy's wife, Lorrie. At first she appears wasted in a thankless "wife" role, but Griffiths imbues her part with a truthfulness anchored in her loyalty and love for the big lug. When she finally tells her husband to "go for it", Jimmy (and the audience) knows that she means it.
(c) Disney
Two young performers stand out as well. As the younger version of Jimmy, Trevor Morgan ably conveys his early devotion to the game and his confusion and disappointment at having a distant father. And Angus T. Jones, as Jimmy's eight-year old son Hunter, practically steals the movie with his cherubic face and innocent believability. He idolizes his daddy, and it shows.
Director John Lee Hancock employs some of the cinematic flourishes apparently mandatory for this type of production, such as slow-motion diamond action (damn you, The Natural!) and training montages underscored by twangy country songs, but thankfully keeps it to a minimum. (And bless him for keeping John Fogerty's "Centerfield" off the soundtrack ... )
Writer Mike Rich fumbles on some of the transitions, crucially so in the belated revelation that Jimmy did try out for the majors before. This robs the character of sympathy at the beginning of the 'adult' portion of the film, where he appears to have just given up. And anyone who can't see the resolution of the major subplot between Jimmy and his father (played by L.I.E.'s Brian Cox) from the first moments of the film has obviously never seen Field of Dreams.
Where Hancock and Rich do succeed is in the development of the relationships within the story. In addition to the examples previously noted, Quaid's interaction with the young players on his team is particularly rich, best exemplified in their exhortations to him upon winning: "It's your turn, coach!"
(c) Disney
The Rookie is rated G (what, a sports film with no locker room profanity or beer-guzzling players???), something for which Disney and the filmmakers are to be commended for; the message of this film, to keep following your dreams no matter how long it takes for you to fulfill them, is something that should be available for all audiences.
Toon Talk Rating: B
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Toon Talk Trivia:
Dennis Quaid appeared in another Disney family film, the 1998 remake of The Parent Trap.
Coming Soon in the Next Toon Talk:
Warren Beatty, Al Pacino and Madonna lead an all-star cast in the Oscar-winning Dick
Tracy, new to DVD on April 2nd. (Click
to purchase Dick Tracy from The LaughingPlace Store).
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-- Kirby C. Holt
Kirby, a former Walt Disney World Resort Cast Member (and Trivia Champ), is a lifelong Disney fan and film buff. He is also an avid list maker and chronic ellipsis user ...
Took Talk: Disney Film & Video Reviews by Kirby C. Holt is posted whenever there's something new to review.
The opinions expressed by our Kirby C. Holt, and all of our columnists, do not necessarily represent the feelings of LaughingPlace.com or any of its employees or advertisers. All speculation and rumors about the future plans of the Walt Disney Company are just that - speculation and rumors - and should be treated as such.
-- Posted April 1, 2002