You've probably seen The Rookie before. It's a classic feel-good movie, about a nice guy fulfilling impossible dreams and mending relationships along the way. But it's the kind of story that we like to hear over again anyway: though firmly rooted in real life (and was, in fact, based on a true story), it's a fairy tale at its heart. Watching The Rookie, I was reminded of children who beg to be read their favorites stories at bedtime, even though they know them word for word by heart.

The setting of this fairy tale is the world of baseball. As young boy, Jimmy Morris clearly loves the game gets very far with it. As an adult he makes a good living as a science teacher and a coach, and his players start to notice his fast ball. You can guess most of the rest, but the character is genuine and likeable enough and there is enough color in the details that we stay involved in the moment. I wasn't fond of a subplot concerning Morris' father, and his relationship with his wife only works because Rachel Griffiths brings intelligence to the character when it is not called for. But the baseball stuff is magical.