The Rookie (2002): cast, story & where to watch

Released in 2002, The Rookie is a drama and family film directed by John Lee Hancock, running about 127 minutes. “Sometimes dreams come back to life.” — that tagline sets the tone.

What it’s about. Jim Morris never made it out of the minor leagues before a shoulder injury ended his pitching career twelve years ago. Now a married-with-children high-school chemistry teacher and baseball coach in Texas, Jim's team makes a deal with him: if they win the district championship, Jim will try out with a major-league organization. The bet proves incentive enough for the team, and they go from worst to first, making it to state for the first time in the history of the school. Jim, forced to live up to his end of the deal, is nearly laughed off the try-out field--until he gets onto the mound, where he confounds the scouts (and himself) by clocking successive 98 mph fastballs, good enough for a minor-league contract with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Jim's still got a lot of pitches to throw before he makes it to The Show, but with his big-league dreams revived, there's no telling where he could go.

Who’s in it. The Rookie stars Dennis Quaid as Jimmy Morris, Rachel Griffiths as Lorri Morris, Jay Hernandez as Joaquin 'Wack' Campos and Beth Grant as Olline, among others.

How it landed. With an audience score of 6.7/10, The Rookie has drawn a solid, mixed-to-positive response. It went on to earn $75.6M at the box office.

Where to watch. In US you can stream it on Disney Plus and rent or buy it from Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies and YouTube. See the full, country-by-country breakdown on our where to watch The Rookie page.

If you liked it. Fans of The Rookie tend to enjoy The Shawshank Redemption, The Godfather, Schindler's List and The Godfather Part II.