The Junior Film Analysis

Analysis of The Rookie

In the movie The Rookie, directed by John Lee Hancock, the director tells a story about a high school baseball coach from Texas named Jimmy Morris. Morris’s dream throughout his life was to make it to the big leagues and play with the very best in the game. He faced multiple challenges that tried to hold him back from his dream. One of the challenges he faced was his dad, his father disapproved of him playing baseball and didn’t support him playing at a young age. Another big challenge was the town Morris’s family moved to, they didn’t care for baseball and there was nowhere to play. In the end, an injury ended his career and he knew it was time to give it up. Eventually, Morris got married and had three children,
The characters that motivate and influence Morris the most is his players. His team the Big lake Owls, are unsuccessful at first due to the lack of effort and little community support they have. One day, after another unmotivated practice Morris decides he has to do something, “You quit. You quit out there. You quit on me and, worse, you quit on yourselves. Now, what is it? You think we don 't care about baseball around here? Think the school 's gonna drop the program? You 're just making it easy for 'em. Sad part is, I see it and you don 't” (Hancock). After practice the catcher Joel Garza stays and throws the ball around with Morris. This is when Joel and the rest of the team finds out Morris still might be able to throw like he did when he was young. The team holds a meeting and comes up with an idea that will benefit the team as well as Morris. The deal is if the team wins a district championship and make the playoffs, Morris has to try out one more time for a major league team. Morris accepts this offer just to get the team to start playing better, not knowing what the future has in store for him. Morris works on his fastball while throwing the team batting practice, benefitting both sides. The Owls start winning and end up winning a district championship, so Morris has to keep his end of the deal and go try out. So, he tries out for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and in surprise throws
The field contributes to the theme by showing Morris’s dream is never out of sight. The baseball field is Morris home, where he feels comfortable, and in the end where he is when he finally makes it to the majors. Although the setting is on many different from fields, from the field he played on when he was a kid, to the high school field he coaches at, and the major league field he ends up playing at, they all shaped him and contributed to him achieving his dream of finally making it to the big show. Everything that Morris ever faced was on the baseball field, whether it be good or bad. Without baseball being in life after he had an injury he would have never tried out again and reached his dream. Morris’s dream to pitch in the major leagues took him years to reach, but in the end he finally made it. Morris was 35 when he reached the majors, his wife reminds him, “How does it feel to be the oldest rookie in over 40 years” (Neal). The setting of all the different baseball fields shows Morris’s passion and love for the game and in the end keeps his eyes on his dream. Hard work and dedication were big factors for Morris to reach his dreams, but the motivation and influences from his players and family is what pushed Morris to achieve his dream. This just goes to show it’s never too late to achieve your