2 for the price of 1

Rating: 7/10 (16 November 2002)

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.