| The Rookie [Blu-ray] | ![The Rookie [Blu-ray]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51PORch6n-L._SL75_.jpg) | Actors: Ernest Vidaure, Royce D. Applegate, Jay Hernandez, Matt Williams (IX), Angelo Spizzirri
Studio: WALT DISNEY VIDEO
Category: DVD
List Price: $29.99
Buy New: $13.08
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Rating:  161 reviews
Sales Rank: 30,064
Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, Subtitled, Widescreen
Languages: French (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), English (Original Language), French (Dubbed), Spanish (Dubbed)
Rating: G (General Audience)
Media: Blu-ray
Region: 1
Discs: 1
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Running Time: 127 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 6.7 x 5.3 x 0.5
MPN: 786936749786
UPC: 786936749786
EAN: 0786936749786
Theatrical Release Date: 2007
Release Date: March 4, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
The studio that brought you REMEMBER THE TITANS presents another unforgettable film based on a true story. Dennis Quaid stars in THE ROOKIE -- now more triumphant than ever on Blu-ray Disc(R). High school coach Jim Morris (Dennis Quaid) thought his dream was over. He'd had his shot playing baseball blew out his shoulder and retired without ever reaching the big leagues. Then in 1999 he made a bet with his perpetually losing team: If they won the district championship Morris -- who threw a 98 mph fastball -- would try out for the majors. The team went from worst to first and Jim was soon on the road to becoming the oldest rookie in the major leagues! Feel the sun on your face as you savor the view from the pitcher's mound in the breathtaking clarity of high definition. Thrill to the thunderous roar of the crowd with spectacularly enhanced audio quality. Everyone will cheer as they experience this inspiring story in Blu-ray™ High Definition!System Requirements:Running Time: 127 Mins.Format: BLU-RAY DISC Genre: DRAMA/FAMILY LIFE Rating: G UPC: 786936749786 Manufacturer No: 05594000
Amazon.com
Jim Morris, the real-life hero of The Rookie, has an inspirational story all but guaranteed to put a smile on anyone's face. Happily, this G-rated Disney drama, based on Morris's published memoir of the same title, is suitable for an all-ages audience. Blessed with an awesome fastball, Morris nursed dreams of pitching for Major League Baseball during his 20s; injuries and bad luck, however, forced him to give up hope and become a teacher and coach. Years later, pressed by students and colleagues to try out for "the Show" one more time, Morris discovered he still had a powerful arm, and he was signed by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. The Rookie is at its best throughout this first chapter in Morris's midlife adventure, though the rest of the film finds fresh angles on more familiar baseball-movie conventions. Dennis Quaid is soulful and charismatic as Morris, perfect in his depiction of a man both thankful and startled that destiny has given one of the good guys his due. Appropriate for ages 4 and up. --Tom Keogh
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 161
 Dad's Watch this One with Your Kids August 1, 2004
M. Swinney (Flower Mound, TX)
18 out of 18 found this review helpful
The Rookie is well-done. It doesn't have the feel of a traditional 'tug-on-your-heartstrings' family film. Instead, scenes are shot artistically, there is space between events, the director and writers gave the time and energy to tell the story and tell the story well, and emotional cues aren't yanked one time too many.
So, the story may be well-known to most but it's a phenomenal one to tell. Based on true life story of Jim Morris, he finds his way to Major League Baseball late in life as a relief pitcher for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays through the encouragement of his High School baseball team. What is really nice is the way the writers took the linear story and added an additional element of history to it. The story goes that in Big Springs, Texas some Nuns early on made a risky financial investment and prayed to the Saint of impossible dreams. Jim Morris's dream may seemed impossible but it is a source of encouragement and inspiration for the rest of us following our dreams.
Dennis Quaid is quite good in the role and plays Jim Morris faithfully. The setting is a key element in a seemingly run-down town and run-down baseball lot in West Texas...a place that dreams are carried through. It brings Jim Morris to his MLB debut at the Ballpark in Arlington which is good to see an authentic setting with real teams and real players instead of fictitious stand-ins.
Fight to keep a dry eye with
Who says they cannot make good G-rated movies anymore? February 21, 2005
Indiana Jeff Reynolds (Indianapolis, IN USA)
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
My wife and I watched this movie, and loved it. We watched it on Christmas day. This is an inspirational movie, and it is based on real life.
I heard Jim Morris, who Dennis Quaid protrayed in this movie, interviewed on a national sports-talk program. One question was if the movie was as it really happened, or if they Hollywoodized it. Morris mentioned there were two things in the movie that were different from real life. One was that it took his experiences as a coach at two High Schools, and made it just one High School. The other is a scene where he throws a ball past a radar detector, to demonstrate his speed and his lack of knowledge of that speed. In other words, you have what really happened.
The review in the Indianapolis Star said it followed two major movie cliches. Who cares? It was enjoyable to watch as an adult, and it is a movie that children can also enjoy. And we definitely need more movies like that!
Back to the movie: very good supporting cast. Dennis Quaid is the only name I recognize.
Jeff Reynolds
Straight Pitch July 17, 2005
Zinta Aistars (Portage, MI United States)
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
I'm not much of a sports fan, and yet, quite a few of my favorite movies, interestingly enough, are sports movies. It was in watching Rookie that I realized why, as I listened to Jim Morris, played by Dennis Quaid, talk about his dreams. Sports movies are often less about sports and more about beating the odds to capture a dream held close to the heart. These are stories of hope, courage, determination, persistence, and a passion for doing what one is meant to do.
In line with this, sports movies are fequently devoid of special effects. No glitz. No flashy distraction. Just good down to earth stories with a lot of heart.
Rookie ranks with perhaps the top ten, if not top five, of my favorite movies. All the elements of a good plot are here. It doesn't hurt that the story is a true one, based on Jim Morris, as told in his own words, about how he came to play for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays as an "old man."
The story begins with the boy, whose military, emotionally distant father is completely insensitive to his son's need for his attention and support. Boy loves baseball, with a passion, but father moves the family from town to town in pursuit of his military career, and he runs his family in a similarly military manner: cold, commanding, no arguments. From time to time, Jim makes an effort to solicit his father's approval, but it is not forthcoming.
The final military post brings the family to a small town in Texas, and it seems no one there cares about baseball. What the boy hasn't found in his father, he appears to find in the warm heart of a store owner who may not carry "baseball stuff" among his merchandise, but, seeing the crestfallen and lonely boy's face at this news, immediately brings out a catalog with promises of ordering all things baseball.
The story jumps to the adult Morris. He has a family, a wife who is the good woman behind the good man, two small children. His young son, Hunter, played by Angus T. Jones (today of "Two and a Half Men" fame), is something of a star in this movie, too, tugging at the heartstrings as he portrays how a son looks to his father to be his hero. Morris has become a high school science teacher who coaches the school baseball team, the Owls. His dreams, it seems, are long over. He had been on the brink of playing professional baseball, but injuries kept him on the sidelines, and he quit his dream before it was his. Morris's bitterness with his father's lack of support is still very much alive in the adult son, and there are great scenes between the man and his elderly father (played by Brian Cox), who with age has mellowed, has been divorced by his wife, lives alone, and still has no understanding about the sport, but at last senses he has not been much of a dad.
When the Owls do poorly on the field, coach Morris chides them on not playing with enough passion. He talks to them about not giving up. I cheered out loud, yes!, when his team called him on his own hypocrisy. They have seen him pitch, they know their coach not only still has his good arm, they know he still aches to follow his dream, even if he has lost courage. A deal is struck. They will win their tournament, but then their coach must go to the try-outs.
They win the tournament.
It's an absolutely wonderful scene as Morris struggles with his children while going to the try-outs. He hasn't had the guts to tell his wife about this "foolish" settling of a deal, and he ends up with a crying baby in a stroller, his small son cheering from the back of a pickup truck, while other athletes chuckle at the "old man" trying to pitch. Until he throws the pitch. He clocks 98 miles per hour.
And it's a beautiful thing, how Morris continues to struggle with doubts and is torn between following his old dream and being with the family he so loves. He goes back and forth more than once. He even asks his father for advice--who gives him advice he doesn't want to hear. At one point, his wife withholds her support. This is madness, and the family can't live on $600 a month while daddy plays ball. But when she realizes how much her son Hunter looks up to his father, how important it is to not only hear the good advice of a father, but to see that father as a role model who shows the courage and determination to face his fears and give his dream a try, well, she gives in. She not only gives in, she becomes her husband's biggest fan, except perhaps Hunter.
Morris ends up playing major league baseball. The hard pursuit comes to its most satisfying end. Yes, Hunter, your daddy is a hero. And Morris, pitching his first major league game, finally makes peace with his father. Who still may not understand baseball. But who is finally starting to understand about being a father.
Six stars. Do not miss.
An inspirational story! August 12, 2005
Janice (Arlington, VA)
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
Disney's "The Rookie," was a true story based on the life of Jimmy Morris who had inspired to play professional baseball since he was five. Jimmy had always played in little leagues despite the instability of his life as his dad was in the military and they had to move constantly. Finally, they settled down in West Texas. Unfortunately for Jimmy, baseball was not popular at all in that place as football was the main interest of the locals.
From that, the movie soon jumped to the current time whereby Jimmy was the high school science teacher as well as baseball coach. Jimmy had a supportive wife, and three children. His eldest child, Hunter was also very much interested in baseball and looked up to his father as his role model. The high school baseball team that Jimmy was coaching was losing constantly and for the previous two years, they had only won one game in each of the year. Soon, the coach and the players made a bet; if they win the district championship game, their coach should go for a tryout. Sure enough, the team won every game in that season, including the district championship and Jimmy went for a tryout. The rest was history.
I really enjoy the movie a lot as it's extremely inspirational. It deals with a man's dream and the moral of the story is that, no matter how old you are, it's not too late to make your dream come true. In addition to that, the movie also dealt with relationships; the hostile relationship between Jimmy and his father, the relationship between Jimmy and his wife, which was very moving as well as the relationship between Jimmy and his son, Hunter. On top of that, I enjoy the extras that came with the DVD, particularly "The Inspirational Story," whereby we get to meet the real Jimmy Morris, his mother as well as the producers and screenwriter of the movie. It helps to gain a deeper understanding of the movie and just Jimmy himself. A highly recommended movie!
Wholesome Inspiration Viewing May 10, 2006
rodboomboom (Dearborn, Michigan United States)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
More of these, Hollywood!
Quaid is superb. Plot is fresh and true. Realistic and down to earth, yet holds the interest and makes one proud to watch and share in excitement of pride of this guy's humility and achievements, as well as his The Owls who motivate him after his motivation of them.
Wife and parents do an excellent support job. One to watch with baseball fans of all ages and watch again.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 161
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