Mickey

As a former Little League dad and Little League coach, I was curious about the movie, particularly because part of it was filmed in our home town. So I admit to a little bias when I see some people I know in the movie.

That notwithstanding, I very much enjoyed it. The producers decided to cast baseball players and teach them to act, rather than trying to teach actors to play baseball. The baseball sequences are well done, and very realistic to Little League experience.

I was wondering how they were going to deal with the basic problem of making a feel-good ending out of a pretty lousy set of circumstances, and I really thought they did it well.

I suspect that it will not get great reviews -- there is not a lot of complexity and brooding and foreboding, no sex, violence or cursing, etc.

It's a little like "The Mighty Ducks"; the fact pattern is believable if improbable, kids mature and succeed, parent makes a good connection with a love interest, and by the end you like the characters and you care what happens to them.

Good summer flick.

It is so wonderful to see a movie about Little League. This movie shows the little league spirit and excitement of the LL World Series. Little League is the oldest youth sports organization in the world and it deserves to be showcased in such a wonderful way. The actors do a great job of catching the spirit of the movie the father shows that he is loving but troubled. and "Mickey" shows the youthful love of baseball and the struggle to handle the situation in front of him I have heard some say that this is the best kids Baseball movie since the sandlot and I fully agree. This is a movie that everyone should see and one that can be a true inspiration for all young people who play or love Little League baseball

I had the opportunity to listen to John Grisham in Ottawa Ontario, Canada in April 2001 discuss his upcoming project "Mickey". Now, in April 2004 in Virginia Beach, Virginia, I was able to see the movie and again listen to John Grisham at a private screening along with the Director Hugh Wilson. "Mickey" was well worth waiting for.

Using Little League Baseball as a background, the Plot centers on a father/son relationship and the difficult choices they have to make. The drive of "Mickey" is focused on the choices made by the Father (Harry Connick Jr.) and how they affect not only his son, but the lives of the team his son plays for.

This is not a "Hollywood" movie. It is far superior to the high tech improbable entertainment that "Hollywood" churns out these days.

Hugh Wilson deftly guides this fine character study that came from the heart of writer John Grisham. Harry Connick Jr. gives his best performance to date (Deserving a nod for Best Actor) and is aided by the fine supporting cast. Mike Starr, as the coach, is one of those character actors ala Jack Elam, Harry Dean Stanton, Kevin Pollock....who you recognize, but just can't remember the name to go with the face, is deserving of a nomination for Best Supporting Actor as he pulls out terrific performance by 1st timer Shawn Salinas (Mickey) and Harry Connick Jr. Michelle Johnson (Blame it on Rio) also contributes to the angst displayed by HCJ.

This is a fine family movie to be enjoyed by all.

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.

I recently bought this, mostly because of my liking of the Little League World Series. After watching it, even if i didn't love the LLWS, I would have recommended it anyway. I loved how authentic they made the games feel. They used same uniforms, stadiums, even announcers in Brent Musberger and Harold Reynolds. They even used some of the same teams as in the 2001 series. The only thing about the movie I was a little confused over was the punishment the teams received. In the 2001 Little League World Series, a team from New York used an ineligible player. The team was stripped of all awards and games won during all-stars. These teams were only stripped of their most recent wins. They probably could have had a more realistic sentence, but I really loved this movie anyway.