Mickey (2004)
Best-selling author John Grisham deviates from his usual literary thrillers with this winning film that stars Harry Connick Jr. as Tripp Spence, a widower who goes on the run from the IRS with his 12-year-old baseball-phenomenon son, Derrick (Shawn Salinas). They assume new identities and flee to Las Vegas, where Derrick, now known as Mickey, joins a team that makes it to the Little League World Series. But will fame give away his true identity?
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Reviews
Great Film overall
As Good As It Gets
There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes
The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.
I was attracted to this movie because I await every new Grisham release with great expectations. I was a bit disappointed that Mickey turned out to be a screenplay and not a novel, but bought the movie and, after seeing it, decided to buy it for others. While a fine story, and well done, my greater interest was in anticipating how Grisham would resolve the moral dilemma carefully constructed during the early scenes. It was handled very much to my satisfaction. I highly recommend that parents sit down and see this movie straight through with their children just entering the teenage years. Great entertainment and great education presented in the Grisham manner.
While I'm not particularly a fan of baseball, I thoroughly enjoyed this movie about a young man who, due to circumstances surrounding his father's issues with the IRS, gets to delay his transition from child to teenager and repeat his last year of little league. While I wasn't particularly able to relate to the baseball part so much, I certainly WAS able to relate to IRS "problems", so I personally did not find this sub-plot to be a distraction.An added plus was discovering that real little league players were used in the cast. While there =was= a script, the effect was that of just watching boys being boys. I didn't find the plot line to be contrived at all. The obvious love of a father for his son was an emotionally uplifting aspect of this moving story.
I have read a few reviews, written by IMDb members, regarding this movie and some weren't positive. I believe this to be a wonderful movie with a great cast, a superb script, great camera work, and nice directing. I love a good baseball movie and the Little League World Series is a fascinating time of the year. I can remember my own days and my former dreams of Little League stardom. Harry Connick Jr does a wonderful job as the father. Even with all the shortcomings of the father, the audience member defiently knows that he loves his son. I could have done without the little love story sewn very obviously into the middle of the movie. Overall, I would recommend this movie to anyone who loves sports. I think this also qualifies as a family movie with a good moral message. Check it out!!!
I saw Mickey with my wife and our two sons who, while past their little league days, at 15 and 17 are still close enough to have distinct memories of the experience. I thought the movie itself was watchable, but not much more than that...too many innings of baseball that had me squirming like I was sitting on a hard bleacher bench. What I really liked was the conversation it stimulated over dinner afterwards. Was the con justified in any way? What's the right way to pick a rec team? Would Mickey's teammates really have behaved the way they did post-revelation? Does our government run on back room deals? Not too many flicks, books or news get as much airing in our family. For that, and that alone, I appreciated Mickey.