If you don't get a teary-eyed when...

Rating: Null/10 (26 October 2002)

Jim Morris (Dennis Quaid) finds he is on his way to "the bigs"..you have not lived long enough to have had a lifetime dream. Maybe it's because I'm older now and a lot more sentimental than in my youth but this film brought joyful tears as Morris reached his dream. My teenage daughter (and baseball fan as well) ALSO loved this film so perhaps it's not just me. It's as American as you can get: baseball, underdog, and surmounting the odds. So what if he pitched only parts of two seasons, only a few innings altogether...the man made it to the majors! If this had been a fiction story like "The Natural", I would have thought it OK but, the tears come from knowing this was a true story, about real people. It's a lot tougher to "get it right" on real people and I applaud the film makers of "The Rookie" for being on target. It's in good stead with the Ruth, Gehrig, Alexander, Stratton, Piersal, etc. films. We need MORE uplifting, hopeful films like this!