Mr. Baseball

Day 97 - 4/9/09 - Movie #97

BEFORE: Keeping the baseball theme rolling - but here it's combined with a redemption story and also a "fish out of water" story. Nothing at all like yesterday's movie about an aging baseball player looking to to recapture glory - see, this one has Tom Selleck!

THE PLOT: A fading baseball player is traded to a Japanese team and has trouble fitting into the society.

AFTER: I am spotting a common theme - this time Selleck plays the arrogant baseball pro (a NY Yankee, of course...) who has to learn humility in order to succeed on the field - but in addition, he has to learn Japanese customs and overcome a language barrier, and also face his own fears and limitations. The baseball metaphors are even more obvious here - becoming a "team player", and a sacrifice bunt is symbolic of, well, sacrifice... And there's a nice homage to "The Karate Kid" as Selleck trains, with his Japanese coach acting like Mr. Miyagi. Selleck's character does manage to teach his coach a few things about having fun with baseball, but I'm still going to have to penalize the film, though, for making baseball seem like a daily grind instead of an exciting pastime.

RATING: 5 out of 10 noodle bowls