Mr. 3000 is a movie about Stan Ross (Bernie Mac), who is a former all-star baseball player. In 1995, he joined the ranks that only a handful of individuals reached. He had his 3000th hit in a major league baseball game. Now nine years later, Ross wants what's coming to him, his rightful place in the hall of fame. Unfortunately for him, it turns out that due to a clerical error he only has 2997 hits. Now at the age of 47, he has to overcome many obstacles to get those last three hits in so that he can be Mr. 3000 and join the hall of fame.

Of course, there is more to this story than just that. Ross is an egomaniac, who has no consideration for his teammates, fans, or anyone else. At the peak of his career, he had no problem treating everyone like dirt. This adds another element to the story, as the older Ross must battle with his internal strife to become a team player, while at the same time bettering himself by getting his 300th hit. There's also the signature love interest for Ross. All together, the major elements of this movie do not play out very well.

The first portion of this movie came off entertaining. I was really enjoying Mack in the role as Ross. While the character was self-centered, coarse, and rude, you couldn't help but like him. Mack seems to fit into the roll like a glove and instead of becoming the character you have too hate, Ross becomes the character that makes you laugh. Unfortunately midway into the movie the entire tempo for Mack's character changes, he takes a complete 180 and becomes a fun loving guy who wants to succeed and at the same time be a team player. There is an added dynamic, with another character on the baseball team who is essentially the same as the young Ross. He really doesn't care about anyone but himself and after a quick pep talk with Ross, he changes his mind and becomes a good team player.

Another portion of this movie that I did not care for was the love story. In it, Angela Bassett plays Maureen, an ESPN sports reporter. Before her gig with ESPN, she and Ross were getting very close. Of course, since he was at the center of everyone's attention he was very popular with the ladies. And the young Ross was clearly not ready for any kind of commitment. Now Maureen magically jumps back into Ross' life when he is ready to make his come back in the game of baseball. The two slowly but surely fall into a very predictable love relationship. Overall, it felt a little too overplayed and convenient.

Despite that I did not really enjoy this movie I thought that it had some endearing qualities. As earlier mentioned, Mac's performance as Ross is executed very well, which is mainly because he fits that egocentric and abrasive personality. However Mack's comical demeanor adds the element to the character, such that you can't really hate the guy, but like him. However, during the second half of the movie Ross seems to change his personality overnight and the excitement started to go down hill. The transition did not feel genuine.

Overall, I thought that this movie was entertaining, but it surely has its limitations. I think that this release is best reserved for a rental. It is worth a watch, but probably not two.

The DVD

Video:
The video is given in anamorphic 1.85:1 ratio widescreen color. The picture quality is good and offers a fairly clean and sharp image. There are occasional portions where the picture endures minor compression artifacts and a slight grain.

Audio:
The language options for this release include two English audio tracks in DTS 5.1 and DD 5.1 formats. Since I do not have a DTS enabled home theater, I could not sample it. However, the DD 5.1 track sounded very good. The dialogue is fairly flat and the music comes off rich and vibrant. However, the surround sound capabilities are not used at full capacity. The majority of sound comes from the forward channels. There are subtitles in English, French, and Spanish.

Extras:
"The Making of Mr. 3000" is a fifteen minute behind the scenes featurette with cast and crew talking about the making of the movie. Next is "Spring Training: The Extras' Journey", which is a ten minute featurette about getting extras for the movie. Several hundred guys tried out for roles as baseball player extras and it includes many former major league baseball players that you've probably never heard of. In "Everybody Loves Stan", there is three and a half minutes of various clips of people from the movie expressing their 'love' for Mr. 3000. Next there are three extended scenes that include "Sportscenter", "Mr. 3000 Mini-Mall Commercial", and "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno". Then there are three deleted scenes with director commentary. There is also a bloopers reel that runs under three and a half minutes. I usually enjoy bloopers, but this one was pretty cut and dry. The last extra is an audio commentary with director Charles Stone III. Overall, there was a nice variety of extras. The only problem is that none are very exciting.

Final Thoughts:
I wasn't really impressed with this movie. There were several elements of the overall story and character roles that I felt were a little off putting. However, the performance by Bernie Mack as a self-centered, egotistical hero was played out very well. I believe that one dynamic is what makes this movie remotely entertaining. The bottom line is that this movie is worth renting.