The Rookie

"Sometimes dreams come back to life."

2002 2h 7m EN

👍

6.8

SOLID

🍅

84%

FRESH

👌

METACRITIC

⭐

6.9

IMDB

★6.8TMDB · 511🍅84%Rotten Tomatoes●72Metacritic★6.9IMDB · 38,553

DramaFamily

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Jim Morris never made it out of the minor leagues before a shoulder injury ended his pitching career twelve years ago. Now a married-with-children high-school chemistry teacher and baseball coach in Texas, Jim's team makes a deal with him: if they win the district championship, Jim will try out with a major-league organization. The bet proves incentive enough for the team, and they go from worst to first, making it to state for the first time in the history of the school. Jim, forced to live up to his end of the deal, is nearly laughed off the try-out field--until he gets onto the mound, where he confounds the scouts (and himself) by clocking successive 98 mph fastballs, good enough for a minor-league contract with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Jim's still got a lot of pitches to throw before he makes it to The Show, but with his big-league dreams revived, there's no telling where he could go.

“Sometimes dreams come back to life.”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

Dennis Quaid
Jimmy Morris
Rachel Griffiths
Lorri Morris
Jay Hernandez
Joaquin 'Wack' Campos
Beth Grant
Olline
Angus T. Jones
Hunter Morris
Brian Cox
Jim Morris Sr.
Rick Gonzalez
Rudy Bonilla
Chad Lindberg
Joe David West

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: John Lee Hancock
Writers: Mike Rich
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 3.8× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 24 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by John Lee Hancock, shot by John Schwartzman. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Carter Burwell. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Eric L. Beason shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Dennis Quaid and Rachel Griffiths and Jay Hernandez carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Sometimes dreams come back to life.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0265662 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

John Lee Hancock directs. John Schwartzman behind the camera. Carter Burwell scores. Eric L. Beason cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Made its money back 3.8× over at the box office.
2Released 24 years ago.
3Directed by John Lee Hancock, shot by John Schwartzman. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Carter Burwell. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Eric L. Beason shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Dennis Quaid and Rachel Griffiths and Jay Hernandez carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "Sometimes dreams come back to life.".
8IMDB entry: tt0265662 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

The technical file

Cinematography: John Schwartzman
Original score: Carter Burwell
Editing: Eric L. Beason
Production design: Barry Robison
Costume design: Bruce Finlayson
Runtime: 127 min · 2h 7m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $20,000,000
Box office: $75,597,042
Return: 378% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): G
IMDB: The Rookie (2002)
Rotten Tomatoes: 84% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 72/100
IMDB rating: 6.9/10 · 38,553 votes
MPAA: G

Awards

5 wins & 4 nominations total

Also by

John Lee Hancock

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Community reviews

What people are saying

r96sk2020-10-14
★ 9/10
A cracking sports drama about the career of Jim Morris. Absolutely loved this, the 127 minute run time flew by real quick; thoroughly enjoyable. It portrays, with extra drama I'm sure, the events of Morris' real life baseball career in a fantastic way. There's great character development right from the get-go, by the conclusion I was utterly invested in Morris. He is played by Dennis Quaid, who is superb in the role. I felt every emotion of his character, best I've (currently) seen of Quaid so far. The film does a great job at making you care for not only him, but even his high school team. Speaking of which, they did a terrific job with the casting of those guys - I felt like I was watching a bunch of real teammates; Chad Lindberg, of <em>'The Fast and the Furious'</em>, is one of them. Even away from Quaid and Lindberg & Co., you still have Morris' family to feel for as well. There's many characters to get attached to, but I was very interested in all of them. Fantastic stuff, I'd highly recommend you watch <em>'The Rookie'</em>.

Production companies