John Lee Hancock.. again..

Rating: 6/10 (12 March 2020)

Disney does like a good old fashioned sports story with a human interest angle. I'm a huge fan of Baseball and Baseball films in general, so even though this is Disney and likely to be a sugar-sweet family friendly film devoid of any real conflict and turmoil , I decided to give this one a punt.
I'd be a liar if I said I had even heard of Jim Morris, the unlikely hero of this true story about a Baseball pitcher who makes his Major League debut at the age of 35. It's the stuff of dreams, and with Dennis Quaid giving a decent account of himself as the humble but tenacious High School teacher who follows his dream after a pact with his pupils, this is actually quite inspiring. Quaid looks the part too. Yes I'm sure there were some special effects used, certainly in the sound department, but he threw well and was fairly convincing. His debut at Arlington against the Texas Rangers did make my heart flutter a little, but hey, this is Disney. Aside from Quaid and Rachel Griffiths who played his wife, there's only a small cameo from Brian Cox of any note in an otherwise cast of nobodies.
Jim Morris apparently had two years as a reliever with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays although according to his stats he never really altered the outcome of any of his games with a record of 0-0. In a day when sportsmen are getting older and carrying on for longer, maybe Morris's story won't be a one-off much longer and that day when I stride out at Fenway to pitch against the Yankees becomes a reality.