Hoovey

A feel-good story of an athlete overcoming adversity to succeed when it appeared that it might be impossible. Based on a true story, but probably embellished for the purpose of theatrics which, in this case, works to provide the emotional kick wanted by the book on which the story is based.

Hoovey is a sweet, feel-good inspirational drama that's full of heart and is easy to like. It's based on the true story of a talented high school basketball player who discovers he has a dangerous brain tumor after collapsing on the court. This isn't so much a story about someone's journey with an illness. It's more of a comeback story from that illness. Dealing with new physical struggles and the possible loss of his big basketball dreams, Hoovey relies on his faith and family to carry him through the storm. Hoovey is a fighter. His whole family are fighters as they work together to overcome the new financial and emotional burdens that arise in the aftermath of the tumor discovery. Given the surprising amount of Disney Channel stars in this cast, this movie felt at times like a deeper Disney Channel movie. It's very family friendly and is full of very likable characters that seem a little too perfect to be true. Cody Linley is like that cool, goofy kid with a smile that brightens up the room and you can't help but like him and the character he plays. Many will enjoy this movie simply for the cast whom they've enjoyed in other projects. With some touching moments and even a little bit of sweet romance, this is a true story worth checking out through this film.

The fact this movie (at this time) is rated less than 6 is misleading. There's only about 1,000 reviews and you can see why they're low by reading the ones who gave it a 1. If you want to see why there's some religion in the movie (and it's not an overwhelming amount of religion like the 1s would have you believe), you can watch the trailer and see why, for a true story, they'd rely on religion.

With that being said, the movie itself I thought was good. It's inspirational and for a book turned movie I thought they did a great job. I've not read the book, but usually when they turn them into movies you feel like something is missing or it goes too fast in parts where it shouldn't. I never got that feeling. Is it a lot like other inspirational movies? Sure. Can it be a little corney at times? Sometimes but not over the top. But overall it was a good movie and if it happened to be on TV when I walked in a room I'd probably sit and watch it again for a bit.

The preaching and the overt evangelizing is kept to a minimum in the film. This is the story of how young basketball protege Cody Linley who after collapsing during a game is discovered to have a brain tumor the size of an orange.

Young Linley was saddled with the nickname Hoovey after as a toddler he got his arm sucked and stuck in a vacuum cleaner. Father Patrick Warburton is a farmer and fireman and mother Alyssa Stoner are a hard working church going couple and their faith helps see them through.

Two other performances of note are Charles Robinson as Linley's high school coach and Brandon Mychal Smith as another basketball prodigy on the team who fears that Linley's handicap will kick in at the wrong time and mess things up for him.

Hoovey is a nice story that can be shown in more places than Christian movie nights.

The biggest flaw is that the movie is totally predictable till last.My question is 'What was this movie made for'?If it's for inspiration we have masterpieces like Theory of Everything.Only difference is that on this movie,the family praises god even if they sneeze.I can't understand why such a movie was made.