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Simply A Masterpiece

A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

... or Gary Busey or the Cubs or twelve year old kids this thing is probably not for you. Otherwise I found some really good laughs in it. The story was appealingly filmed and professionally cut and so on. My point is that most Europeans don't have a clue about the game and it is quite important for the story. (For how long will this go on? - Well it's the third inning and they play at least eight. - God help me!) It is great to see how the boy is brought up by his mother to be nice to people and show them respect and how the really manly men repay the favor. All in all I give it a ten because it achieves what it aims for. Do watch it. If you can tell a sinker from a curve ball that is.

Daniel Stern should stick to comic roles, since this film makes clear that he has no talent for directing. It's hard to tell whether the acting is as bad as it seems here, or whether it was Stern's amateurish oversight that made every line go clunk. To make matters worse, there is not a single frame in which the action, such as it is, feels emotionally authentic. This problem is exacerbated by a camera that lingers for too long on each and every shot, especially the numerous and increasingly tiresome slow-motion scenes.Stern appears in the film himself, hamming it up so badly that he actually makes co-actor Gary Busey look pretty good. With respect to the way balls are hit, caught and pitched, and base paths are run, the game played in this film evokes real baseball about as well as William Bendix did on the mound in "The Babe Ruth Story".I was eager to see this movie because the 1954 original, "Roogie's Bump," was one of my favorites as a kid. Too bad the effort fell so flat. Along with the Danny Glover version of "Angels in the Outfield," "Rookie of the Year" stands as one of the least accomplished remakes of a baseball classic.

Just another nearly unwatchable kids fantasy film where they are the best. This one is about a kid who is not the best player in the world and he has an accident. This accident causes his arm to mess up and the tendons to tighten and now he can throw a 100 mph fastball. Well he displays this super ability at a Cubs game where he proceeds to throw a home run ball back into the field of play and before long he is signed with the Cubs giving inspirational speeches, striking out great players and guiding the Cubs to the post season. The Cubs were absolutely not a playoff team when this film was made and to make it out like one kid could turn around the team is completely insane even for movie standards. For one thing he is just a reliever, and a reliever has to have the lead going into the 8th or 9th inning to have any impact on the game and quite frankly I think the Cubs actually had a decent reliever back then. The comedy does not work for me neither did Daniel Stern (who actually directed this movie) as a pitching coach. John Candy is in the film as a play by play guy, but he is not even credited in the cast. Granted I guess if your him you do not need your name to be recognized. On an interesting note you get to see Barry Bonds as a Pirate and before he gained one of those white orbs from Altered Beast and became super big. In fact I think he had actually gotten two of those orbs by the end of his playing days, one more and he would have actually become a wolf man hybrid. Sorry, went off track there, and I am doubting there are a lot of people that will get the reference. In the end, this film might be okay for children. To me though it was just idiotic and just about a complete waste of time.

My 11 year old, who loves baseball, and I watched this. He loved it, and I thought it was good, too. It was amusing, and sweet, and had good messages ("don't abandon your friends," "somethings are more important than money," your mom is the coolest").A totally good family film for old and young. (as long as you like baseball). No Academy Award, nothing to write home about, but good with popcorn, and a kid leaning on your shoulder.