The Rookie (Blu-ray)
Directed by John Lee Hancock
Studio: Disney
Year: 2002
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 1080p AVC codec
Running Time: 128 minutes
Rating: G
Audio: PCM 5.1 English; Dolby Digital 5.1 English, French; 2.0 Spanish, Portuguese
Subtitles: English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Japanese, Chinese
MSRP: $ 29.99
Release Date: March 4, 2008
Review Date: March 7, 2008
The Film
4/5
A feel good biographical drama which manages not one but two climactic come-from-behind sequences, John Lee Hancock’s The Rookie is an easy film to like. Though pretty much a predictable blend of an underdog team and an unfulfilled individual looking for something triumphant, The Rookie nevertheless manages to come out a winner despite its utter familiarity.
The always reliable Dennis Quaid stars as Jim Morris, a one-time professional pitcher who had left the game due to injury and had settled into a high school chemistry teacher/coaching position in a small Texas high school. Trying to inspire his lackluster baseball team into striving for greatness, he makes a deal with them that if they would play hard enough to win the district championship, he’d make an effort to try for the Major Leagues one more time. With his family finances tottering on the edge of collapse and without the support of his indifferent father (Brian Cox) whose military career had always come first to the dissolution of his marriage and the strained relations with his son, Jim is torn in his feelings about the possibility of taking another chance at the big time. First, however, his high school team has to get whipped into shape.
Mike Rich’s screenplay divides into neat halves: the first part concerning Jim’s Big Lake High School Owls baseball team, and the second half dealing with his potential trip back to the majors despite his advanced age, the potential re-injury of his pitching arm, and the need for money to keep his family afloat. Each section features the film’s most intense dynamic: the relationship between father (Brian Cox) and son (Dennis Quaid), and the combination of the writing and the acting by these two genuinely affecting actors makes these moments between them something indeed special. Even though the story goes through predictable and sometimes paint-by-the-numbers motions (the success montage of the team leading to the big game which comes down to the last at-bat that’s make or break for the Owls), we care because it’s all leading to that moment when father and son can finally have that moment of understanding we’ve longed for through the entire movie.
Besides Quaid’s outstanding emotional and physical performance (one truly believes he’s firing nearly 100 mph fast balls at his catchers) and Cox’s almost icily dry playing, the film boasts some other strong acting moments. Angus T. Jones makes an adoring and adorable son for Quaid, and Jay Hernandez (who often plays youthful drug lords and other misfits on various television dramas) does a great job as “Wack” Campos, the team’s charismatic star player. Rachel Griffiths makes a solid, supportive wife for Quaid, but her Southern accent comes and goes noticeably. Beth Grant also does well as Quaid’s loving but no-nonsense mother, and Trevor Morgan is a fine sensitive young Jim.
The film’s G-rating certainly makes it suitable for family viewing even if the professional baseball locker rooms and talk between athletes and management seem perhaps too antiseptic and squeaky clean for true believability. It’s a minor complaint in a majorly entertaining true story.
Video Quality
4.5/5
The film’s Panavision 2.35:1 aspect ratio is presented in 1080p using the AVC codec. Except for the prequel sequences with Jim as a boy which seem just a little bit desaturated and lacking contrast and where I noticed some slight line twitter on the grille work of a car, the majority of the film is sharp and beautifully executed. Flesh tones look natural (a wonderful contrast between Quaid’s sunburned face and Griffiths’ milky white complexion, for example), and sharpness is excellent throughout. Black levels are deep with rich shadow detail. The film is divided into 16 chapters.
Audio Quality
4/5
The PCM 5.1 soundtrack (6.4 Mbps) does not get quite as much out of its surround capabilities as I was expecting with the rears used mainly for music until the climactic baseball game. Still, the sound is spacious with a rich selection of country standards being filtered throughout the soundfield.
Special Features
3.5/5
Director John Lee Hancock and star Dennis Quaid take part in the audio commentary. Hancock does most of the talking with Quaid only occasionally adding a comment. Hancock’s comments are interesting and well worth a listen.
“The Inspirational Story of Jim Morris” is the disc’s most substantial extra, a 20½-minute documentary on the real Jim Morris told using actual footage of him as a high school athlete and later as a high school coach and professional player. Students and town friends also talk about him along with the film’s director, producers, and star. This is presented in 480i.
“Spring Training: Baseball Tips from the Pros” offers six brief featurettes giving helpful hints on various aspects of playing baseball by the film’s baseball supervisor Mark Robert Ellis. This 4:3 480i presentation lasts 8¼ minutes if the viewer chooses the “Play All” option. The tips can also be watched individually.
7 deleted scenes, all in 480i, can be watched individually or together in an 18¼-minute clump. Each is introduced by director John Lee Hancock explaining why the scene was dropped from the final film. The introductions cannot be turned off.
The disc offers previews in 1080p of upcoming releases Sleeping Beauty, Wall-E, Enchanted, and National Treasure: Book of Secrets. The trailer for The Rookie is not included.
In Conclusion
4/5 (not an average)
The Rookie is an engrossing and heartwarming true story of a man not giving up on his dreams. The Blu-ray release is a beautiful presentation of the film which is definitely the way to see this splendid movie.
Matt Hough
Charlotte, NC
[PG]111295405[/PG]
