The Rookie
Actors: Rick Gonzalez, Jay Hernandez, Rachel Griffiths, Brian Cox, Beth Grant
Release Date: Monday 30th November -0001
Running time: 129 minutes
In theory, the prospect of spending over two hours in the company of the eternally stoic Denis Quaid as he takes his sweet time triumphing over the odds in a baseball drama should be fate worse than death. In practice, however, as sweet and sentimental as The Rookie is, John Lee Hancock's beautifully shot film is so optimistic and genuinely hopeful that it actually hits a rare nerve.
Quaid is Jim, a good natured middle aged man whose only ambition is to pitch in the major leagues. That dream looks like it will never be achieved as he's a thirty-something high school science teacher who is married with three kids. But a team of youngsters that he coaches recognise his outrageous talent and demand that he gives that lifelong dream one last shot.
Unashamedly sentimental and austere, The Rookie should, by rights, be a shambles of a movie. But Hancock treats the languid material with care and precision, echoing eternal themes but never over emphasising them. Quaid, the perfect actor for a role like this, gives another one of his trademark grizzled performances, while the support offered by Griffiths and the talented Hernandez is well judged. Of course, this leisurely atmospheric excursion is claptrap, but it's impossible-to-resist clap trap. And that's a good thing.
