Product Description

When the cast is removed from his severely broken arm, clumsy 12-year old Henry Rowengartner (Thomas Ian Nicholas) is shocked to find his arm has become a 100 mile per-hour thunderbolt. His throw from the bleachers directly to home plate alerts the last place Chicago Cubs and before you can shout "play ball!" he is signed as their new ace pitcher. With a few pointers from an aging star pitcher (Gary Busey) young Henry actually manages to pull of the impossible.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #9908 in DVD
• Brand: Team Marketing
• Released on: 2002-01-29
• Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, Full Screen, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English, French
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish
• Dubbed in: English, French
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .0" h x .0" w x .0" l, 1.00 pounds
• Running time: 103 minutes

Amazon.com
Baseball movies seem like a sure thing, combining the drama of the game with positive values. So it's too bad this pleasant film takes the field in the most superficial way. Henry, the worst player in Little League, suffers an injury that miraculously heals as the strongest pitching arm in the world. His life becomes a kid's dream with a career in the Majors, but nothing really happens. His strength cannot hide his lack of skill, yet audiences love him, probably to support subplots such as the team being rescued from bankruptcy and Mom's boyfriend turning bad. Small attempts are made to create character, relationships, and themes. Gary Busey, as a burnt-out pitcher named Rocket, finds a family. Henry learns the importance of being a kid, not to mention a surprisingly cynical lesson about stardom, when Rocket says, "One day your gift will be gone." Mom learns Henry always respected her and Henry learns to rely on himself when his "power" disappears in the climactic game. Sadly, a fine cast including Dan Hedaya, John Candy, and '40s comedian Eddie Bracken is given nothing to work with. Worse yet, director Daniel Stern plays Phil, who suffered a head injury that left him an insult to comedy fans as well as the mentally challenged. Kids who love baseball films where kids are the heroes and the comedy is dumb will enjoy sitting through Rookie of the Year, but I wouldn't expect them to pull it off the shelf too often. --Lloyd Chesley

Customer Reviews

DVD of The YEAR! M. W. Guess is STUPENDOUS!!
Not only is this one of the best baseball films around, BUT it is notable for launching the cinematic career of that celebrated ladies man GuessWho! He appears at the approximately 00:44:58 mark, and those three seconds are what we in Hollywood like to call "Cine-MAGIC". Wow. Sadly, he is no longer sporting his coke bottle glasses, and his tradmark mullet is obscured from view, but even so, he is Grr! Baby! VERY GRR.

A Teriffic Baseball Movie
Being a die-hard Chicago Cubs fan, I was immediately drawn to this movie. Us true fans could only hope for a real-life Henry Rowengartner to salvage our continuing seasons of near misses and shattered dreams.

In the movie itself, Thomas Ian Nicholas stars as Henry Rowengartner, a young 12-year-old boy who does many of the things normal 12-year-olds do: Playing little league baseball, building boats, and dreaming of pretty girls. Unfortunately for Henry, his baseball career isn't going so well. A fly ball hits him in the head, and then he throws the ball over the right field fence. To make matters worse, the next day, he trips over an unseen baseball while trying to make a catch and damages his arm. But unknown to Henry, his life is about to change forever.

Henry's mom (Amy Morton) and her scheming boyfriend Jack (Bruce Altman) take Henry to the emergency room and he is put in a cast, but when the cast comes off, Henry discovers that he can throw a baseball 100 miles per hour. He throws a home run ball all the way from center field to home plate on the fly. Jack, seeing a chance to cash in on Henry's golden arm, calls Sal Martinella (Albert Hall), the manager of the Chicago Cubs. Soon, Henry has a tryout with the Cubs, is signed to a contract, and begins playing for his hometown team. Also on the Cubs is Chet "Rocket" Steadman (Gary Busey) an aging star who has lost most of the zip on his fastball. Chet is given the job of mentoring Henry while he develops.

After a while, Henry develops into a pretty good pitcher, blowing his fastball by most opposing hitters. Due to the arrival of Henry, the Cubs fortunes begin to change and they soon find themselves in position to win their division. However, Jack continues his scheming ways, and he tries to orchestrate a trade to New York. However, the deal is nixed by the owner of the Cubs.

After a somewhat rocky start, Henry and Chet have become true friends, and Chet has taught Henry a lot about pitching and the game in general. Henry seems to think that Chet would be someone good for his mother, too. The season continues along, and the Cubs find themselves in need of one more win to win their division. Chet, having been told that he will be released next season, begins the game for the Cubs and pitches well early on, but he develops shoulder problems later in the game. Henry is brought in to take over for Chet and is his usual unhittable self, but late in the game, he once again falls over the baseball, this time reversing the power in his arm. He can no longer throw 100 mph. What will Henry and the Cubs do? Will they win the game and go to the world series, or will they do what most Cubs teams do: choke?

I'm a huge fan of baseball movies, and I'm also a big-time Cubs fan, so this movie was even more fun for me to watch. The acting is very good. Gary Busey does a great job as Chet, and the late John Candy is very funny as the Cubs announcer. I can relate so much to this movie as a Cubs fan; seeing them come so close and then ultimately choking in the end (a la 2003). It was fun to finally see them win for a change.

I give this movie my highest recommendation. Baseball fans will surely enjoy it, especially Cubs fans. Now if we could only get Mark Prior to pitch like Henry Rowengartner...

Thomas Ian-Nicholas shines in great classic
Rising heart-throb,Thomas Ian Nicholas,who s breaking-out in older roles,such as "American pie",and tv's "Party of five",shines in this comedy for all ages,about a boy who breaks his arm,and suddenly finds his "pitching" arm is almost super-human,and is placed in the big leagues! Not only offering younger audiences a good moral story,but terrificly funny,and will appeal to all ages! Great supporting cast! And offers a glimpse of Thomas' great acting skills,even at this young age. A family CLASSIC COMEDY!