"Rated G, directed by John Lee Hancock, with Dennis Quaid (Jim Morris), Rachel Griffiths (Lorri Morris), Jay Hernandez (``Whack'' Campos), Brian Cox (Jim Morris Sr), running time: 127 minutes.
The Rookie tells the true story of Jim Morris, a baseball player who retired from the Milwaukee Brewers' farm league in 1989 and went on to coach high school baseball in Texas. He makes a bet with his team that if they win their district championship, he'd try out for the minor leagues again. They did and he did and the rest is history. Not only did he earn himself a place with the Tampa Devil Rays, but retired a short time later as part of the Los Angeles Dodgers' pitching lineup. You may look at the film and think ``Disney. True story. Rated G,'' but it would be unfair to associate this very watchable film with Disney's cannon of direct-to-video schlock. Dennis Quaid's turn as Morris belongs in the same pantheon as Robert Redford in The Natural or Kevin Costner in Bull Durham.
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