Batter Up
The Rookie stars Dennis Quaid, who portrays Jimmy Morris, areal person with a real story. Naturally the film doesn’t follow the real storythat happened in the late 90s to a tee, but it’s actually fairly close as youwill discover if you watch one of the extra features that I break down below.That said, the film is constructed around the life of Jimmy Morris, or morespecifically, that of his love of baseball and his family. Without spoiling toomuch, Jimmy was a pitcher in the minor leagues, but a severe injury to his armkept him from the pitchers mound. Unable to pitch in competitive baseball, hisdream of going to the Majors was all but forgotten.
Years pass, and he grows older, into his late 30s. Insteadof baseball, Jimmy works as a science teacher and baseball manager for hisschool team. He finds himself practicing his pitch again, and as it turns out,his injury seems to have ultimately helped his pitching. His young, strugglingbaseball club discovers his talent and they urge him to join the Majors. In response,Jimmy poses a challenge to his team: advance to the state tournament, and he’llgo try out. As you might predict, one things leads to another, and Jimmy doesindeed eventually live out his dream as a pitcher in the Majors.
While his career might not have lasted long, he did dopretty well for himself. And while you might be able to predict this movienearly every step of the way, I found it very entertaining. In fact, this wasthe most enjoyable inspirational sports film I have ever seen; if you’re notcareful, it will move you to tears at parts. The struggle, determination, heart,and support (from his family) displayed were admirable and touching. Suffice itto say that there are several memorable scenes, my favorite being when Jimmy’sAAA coach tells him that he’s been called up to the pros.
It’s hard not to like the story, because it is a great, reallife story. I thought the acting, especially by Quaid, was very believable andgood. Quaid was tasked with displaying a variety of emotions, and he did soconvincingly. I enjoyed this film a lot more than Remember the Titans orInvincible; it seemed more sincere and powerful.
Disney Knows Blu-ray
I’ve seen about a dozen Disney Blu-ray releases now, andthey seem to share at least one common thread: the video and audio quality isoutstanding. The Rookie looks excellent on Blu-ray. I loved some of the morecolorful scenes, like during the baseball games, as they show off a widepalette of colors and textures, ranging from the brown dirt to the bright whiteuniforms. Edges were crisp and I recall very little to no artifacting. On theaudio side of the equation, you will find a competent and satisfying track. Asthese inspirational films are usually all about dialogue and big crowd noise,this isn’t the most engaging track on the market. However, I thought that thedialogue, quite frankly the most important part, shone through quite well.
Extras? Indeed.
There are about forty minutes of extras included on this release,none of which are in HD, unfortunately. There is also an audio commentary trackwith director John Lee Hancock and Dennis Quaid. The extras include sevendeleted scenes with commentary; I found these interesting as I normally do. Nextup is a nearly twenty minute bio of the real Mr. Morris, including footage ofhim telling us his thoughts on his own story; this was a nice piece. Lastly,there is an eight minute feature that is presented by the baseball consultantfor the film. He gives you instructional tips on improving your baseball game;yeah, I thought it was a weird inclusion, too.