MICKEY

MICKEY - 2004

RATED - PG for adult themes. Very family friendly.

RATINGS - 15 Amazon (3.4/5), 34.086 Netflix (3.5/5).

STARRING - John Grisham wrote the screen play and Hugh Wilson (WKRP Cincinnati, Police Academy, First Wives Club) directed. Harry Connick, Jr. and Shawn Salinas (film debut) starred.

THEMES - Relationships, justice.

STORY - John Grisham is a huge baseball enthusiast and even has built a Little League complex on his property and runs the league every summer so this is not a subject far from his heart. And it shows in the film. The players are really top notch players, not actors trying to look like ballplayers. They actually recruited players from coast to coast and taught them acting skills. It has the feel of real competition when you're watching the game scenes and Grisham understands the dialogue between coaches and players and it seems very realistic to someone who has also been there. The story is about Tripp Spence and son Derrick. Tripp is recently widowed and his life revolves around coaching Derrick's Little League team. Derrick is 12 and has just finished his last year of Little League (or has he?). This is the point at which many boys quit or are eliminated from baseball as they have to make the move from the reduced size fields of Little League to full size fields. Derrick would love to have the last season over and stay at the magic age of 12 forever. Unfortunately, he will get the chance. Tripp has been cheating the IRS on his taxes due to the medical bills (sounds familiar in the health care debate) surrounding his wife's death. When the IRS comes calling, rather than face the music, he decides to create a new identity for himself and Derrick and leave the state. Derrick is now 12 again. There's plenty of action and suspense to keep you engaged and the story takes several unexpected twists at the end. Very family friendly. The couple negative reviews on Amazon seem to think the film encourages cheating and deception. I would disagree and say just the opposite. Enjoy!! Lu G. for Lu's Reviews. 08/09/2009.

LINKS - AMAZON

EIGHT MEN OUT

EIGHT MEN OUT - 1988

RATED - PG for adult themes, some language, smoking & drinking.

RATINGS - 63 Amazon (4.5/5), 209,647 Netflix (3.7/5.0), 7,880 IMDB (7.2/10), Roger Ebert (2/4).

STARRING - John Cusack, John Sayles, Charlie Sheen & others.

THEMES - Relationships, justice.

STORY - This is the story of the 1919 Chicago White Sox scandal in which 8 of the players were bribed to 'throw' the World Series against the Cincinnati Reds, in which they were heavily favored. The Series had changed to best of 9 games that year so the star pitcher who won 29 games would get at least three starts. Without his participation in the scandal, they would have been unbeatable. He became 'in' when Sox owner Charlie Comiskey refused to pay him his bonus for winning 30 games because he 'only' won 29. Comiskey had ordered him benched toward the end of the season for two weeks, missing five starts, to prevent him from reaching 30 wins and earning the bonus. This was but one example of Comiskey 'cheating' his players out of money they had earned. At that time, the owner was king. There were no unions and not even a commissioner for the players to appeal to. This is a fascinating story about a major black spot on Major League Baseball and subject to much discussion as to whether all the players implicated really did intentionally play below their ability. Roger Ebert's lower rating is primarily due to his feeling you had to have too much knowledge of the scandal and the individual players before watching the movie because the individual players and other characters were not identified clearly and distinctly early on in the film. His criticism does have some merit but certainly not enough to avoid this very interesting incident in Major League Baseball and one of the few full-fledged scandals in profession sports, although steroid use may end up being right up there. The costumes and settings are well done and give you a real feel for the period. Another interesting sidelight is the players' relationship to the community. They were a real part of the community, even walking back and forth from home to the stadium for games and, of course, travel by train provided for a much different environment between players and the sportswriters who traveled along. Enjoy!! Lu G. for Lu's Reviews. 09/09/2009.

LINKS - AMAZON, IMDB, ROGER EBERT, TRAILER