The Rookie
Short description
Jim Morris is a chemistry teacher and high school baseball coach in Texas whose own professional pitching career ended twelve years prior due to a shoulder injury. He makes a bet with his students that he will try out for a major league organization if they win their regional championship. After the team achieves a historic victory, Jim attends a try-out where his unexpected pitching speed earns him a minor league contract with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.
Directed by John Lee Hancock, this was the first film in a series of works that includes The Alamo and The Blind Side. The movie stars Dennis Quaid as Jimmy Morris, alongside Rachel Griffiths, Jay Hernandez, Beth Grant, Angus T. Jones, and Brian Cox. Produced by Walt Disney Pictures, Gran Via Productions, and 98 MPH Productions, the project had a budget of 20 million USD and earned 76 million USD worldwide.
The film has been well received by audiences and critics. It holds a rating of 6.9/10 on IMDb based on 36,600 votes and a 6.8/10 on TMDB from 508 votes. Film critics provided a slightly higher rating of 7.2/10 across 154 reviews.
What's left behind the scenes
- In one scene, the main character says to Russell Richardson's character: "You know what we're going to do today? We're going to play baseball." This line is a reference to a scene cut from the film, in which Richardson's character tells the protagonist that those were the exact words his father used to say to him as a child.
- One of the scenes on the baseball field featuring Dennis Quaid's character was filmed during a real game involving the Texas Rangers. All the pitches were filmed after the game had concluded.
- Dennis Quaid performed almost all of the pitches for his role himself, and was only rarely replaced by a former professional pitcher. No special effects were used to accelerate the flight of the ball on screen.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
