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Over the years, Disney has been known to produce really great movies, be it in the form of animated films (Toy Story and Finding Nemo, just to name a few) or motion picture films. The magic of Disney films is that anybody from any age group can enjoy them as they've managed to capture everyone with their heart-moving tales. Many of their films have also been very inspirational and will definitely affect everyone who has watched any of them, leaving them to continuously ponder about the film long after they have watched it. Besides "Remember the Titans", which is probably one of the most popular Disney films, there's also a lesser known film entitled "The Rookie" that was released 5 years ago back in 2002.

The Rookie is based on the true story of Jim Morris, who had a brief major league baseball career with the Devil Rays as a relief pitcher. While he's not a very well known player, his story is considered to be one of the most inspirational ones in the game of baseball. Jim Morris (Dennis Quaid) had always been passionate about baseball since young, but a shoulder injury in his younger days ended his minor league baseball career. He ended up teaching Chemistry and head baseball coach at a high school (in reality he had been a physics teacher). When his players felt dejected at their continuous loses, he made an agreement with them whereby if they reached the district playoffs, he would tryout for major league baseball. In the end, when his team reaches the playoffs, he ends up having to fulfill his end of the deal. When scouts realise that he can pitch at an amazing 98 miles per hour (which was something that less than 10 professional pitchers could pull off at that time) despite being almost twice the age of the average player, he joins the Devil Rays as a relief pitcher and the rest is history.

He had first recorded his story in an autobiography entitled "The Oldest Rookie" which was then adapted into this film and the director, John Lee Hancock, has definitely done a great job of bringing it to the silver screen. Almost every single scene fits nicely into the film and helps to add details to the story line that helps to bring everything together, thus adding to the "inspirational factor" of the film. The actors and actresses chosen for this film, even the children, are all extremely appropriate and do a great job of portraying the emotions and you'll hear absolutely no complaints from me about the acting in this film. It's about as good as it gets. The storyline itself is of course extremely intriguing and once again I cannot stress how inspirational it is, with Jim entering Major League baseball while facing other problems such as the chilly relationship he has with his father and problems with raising his own family as well.

If there was one thing I have gripes about, it's that certain scenes can get a bit drawn-out and feel very boring. These scenes include those where Jim is just sitting there doing nothing, or looking out at the window, wondering if he made the right choice by deciding to pursue a career in Major League Baseball. During these scenes, it's just a couple of minutes of music playing with no dialogue or action on screen. However, these scenes are far and few, and even when they do appear, Hancock's great directing along with Quaid's suitable acting skills make these scenes very emotional as well. At times they're even a break from the film, allowing the audience to process what has happened thus far and therefore allowing them to feel for the characters even more.

All in all, the great thing about The Rookie (2002) is in its simplicity, the film sets out to tell the story straight, short and sweet, leaving out all the unnecessary frills that most other Hollywood films would have. Of course, the story that it's based upon is an amazing one as well, and one will definitely be left pondering about the film long after they have watched it. A must watch for almost anyone, especially when you're feeling down in the dumps.

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