The Rookie
(Blu-ray)
Picture:
B+ Sound: B Extras: C Film: C+
The
“baseball dream cycle” that began with Field
Of Dreams was thin to begin with and John Lee Hancock’s The Rookie (2002) was a valiant effort
by Disney to have their answer to the Kevin Costner hit down to the casting of
Dennis Quaid, who is as “all-American” as Costner could get. As a high school coach who promises to try
for Major League Baseball if his team can win a championship, he becomes the
tile character despite his age.
Though
somewhat melodramatic and almost cheeky, the result is a mixed film with some
likability, but ultimately does not add up despite its ambitions. Hancock went on to replace Ron Howard on the
problematic retread of The Alamo
(2004) while writer Mike Rich had also written Finding Forrester (2000), only to turn around and write the
catastrophic Radio (2003). That should give you an idea of how uneven
this is. Rachel Griffiths, Jay
Hernandez, Brian Cox and the terrific Beth Grant also star.
The 1080p
2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image is good, but not without flaws and
limits, barley making its letter grade.
There are some Video Black issues and some shots that are not consistent
with the better ones more often than expected.
Director of Photography John Schwartzman, A.S.C., delivers a good
looking film once again. The PCM 24/48
5.1 mix is better than the Dolby Digital 5.1 options here, but this never had a
great soundmaster and you should not expect much from it. Extras include two featurettes, eight deleted
scenes with director intros and a feature length audio commentary by Quaid and
Hancock.
Fans will
be happy, while others interested who have not seen it will want to give it a
look in this format.
- Nicholas Sheffo
