Everyone’s Hero Strikes Out Swinging

By Patrick Hickey Jr

Over the past few years, there have been a slew of computer animation companies that have tried to make big bucks off the success of movies like Shrek,...
[+] Read Full Review

Everyone’s Hero Strikes Out Swinging

By Patrick Hickey Jr

Over the past few years, there have been a slew of computer animation companies that have tried to make big bucks off the success of movies like Shrek, Toy Story and The Incredibles. Most often than not, these films, while displaying beautiful animation, fail to produce the solid stories that the successful movies in the genre are known for.

Such is the unfortunate case with “Everyone’s Hero.� While its lighthearted attempted to educate the younger generation about old school baseball doesn’t fail miserably, there aren’t enough memorable moments to hook either the children watching it or their older siblings or parents that get stuck paying their way into the theatre.

Centering on the life of a young Bronx-Bomber fan named Yankee Irving in the mid 1920’s, played by Jake T. Austin [Ant Bully], “Everyone’s Hero� is a tale of imagination and baseball history. Joining Irving is his talking baseball named Screwie, played by Rob Reiner [All in the Family, the Majestic] who together, must bring Darlin’, Babe Ruth’s talking baseball bat, played by Whoopi Goldberg [Girl Interrupted, Rat Race], back to the Yankee slugger in time for the last game of the World Series against the Chicago Cubs.

While the story is helped along by the comic relief of Reiner, there aren’t enough witty comments from him to keep adults awake during the film. Despite the fact that the movie is rated G, more often than not, viewers will be confused as to what age group directors Christopher Reeve, Colin Brady and Dan St. Pierre were actually marketing this film towards. Children will find the slapstick comedy throughout the film entertaining for a while, but will find it forgettable by the film’s end. In the end, the baseball nostalgia emanating from all corners of this film is obviously a treat for older viewers, but younger movie-goers looking for something along the lines of “Finding Nemo� will be sadly disappointed.