The Rookie

Small-town Texas high-school science teacher and baseball coach Jim Morris (Dennis Quaid) accepts a bet with his team: he will try out for the majors if they win the divisional playoffs. They both do and Morris goes on to become one of the oldest rookies to ever be selected to play professional ball. This inspirational drama from director John Lee Hancock and writer Mike Rich is based on a true story. It spreads the inspirational butter thicker than the diamond action and buries the school team beneath Morris’ quest for a new career, but develops a lyrical sense of what it’s like to resurrect self-worth and chase one’s dreams. Rachel Griffiths (Hilary and Jackie) plays Morris’ supportive wife and Albert Finney look-a-like Brian Cox co-stars as his military officer father, a strict disciplinarian with several regrets of his own.