Not Quite a Homerun.

Rating: Null/10 (26 June 2002)

Overall good little film based on a true story about a chemistry teacher (Dennis Quaid) in Big Lake Reagan County, Texas who still harbors thoughts about someday playing baseball in the Major Leagues. He coaches a rag-tag bunch of players at the town's high school and challenges them to start playing up to their capabilities in the hopes of keeping the program alive. He makes a deal with them that he will try out for the big leagues if they start playing the way they are supposed to. Naturally all goes well as the team makes it to the Texas Class 2A U.I.L. Baseball Tournament. Now it is Quaid's turn to hold up his end of the bargain. So he tries out and the newly-formed Tampa Bay Devil Rays show great interest and hire him to a minor league deal. What follows is a long and sometimes seemingly hopeless journey to be called up to the majors. "The Rookie" is a film that really starts to tire in its second half. It starts off so well and the footage of Quaid coaching his players in Big Lake is really excellent, but when the focus shifts squarely to him the project struggles to stay above water. After a while it seems that Quaid's character is just a selfish person who wants to do whatever he wants with utter disregard for his wife, children and career back home. Dennis Quaid does a good job here, but he lacks the support that made him so much better in greater films ("The Right Stuff", "Innerspace", "Traffic"). Good overall, but could have been great after its excellent start. 4 stars out of 5.