The Movie
John Grisham made his name as the master of the legal thriller, with a run of bestselling novels including The Client, The Rainmaker and The Firm. As a lawyer, he knew exactly what he was talking about, and wrote some very good novels. But as with all people who achieve extreme success (see Madonna), he came to believe he could do anything. Thus, he wrote a Christmas comedy, a coming-of-age drama and a sports novel, and now, a sports movie he produced himself. Like Madonna's acting efforts, these side jobs by Grisham don't touch the quality of his day job.

In Mickey, Harry Connick, Jr. plays Tripp, a lawyer who runs into some trouble with the IRS over his taxes. Afraid he'll end up in prison, and away from his motherless son, Derek, he changes their hair color, and goes on the run, moving to Las Vegas, where he hopes they can start a new life. For Derek, life centers around Little League baseball, which he had to give up when they went on the lam.

So when the opportunity comes up for Derek, now known as Mickey, to repeat his last year of Little League, Tripp grabs for it, despite the fact that as a 13-year-old, he is too old to play in this league. Through some manipulation, he gets Mickey, who poses as a 12-year-old, onto the best team in the league, and starts him on a ride to success that gets out of his control. There's a subplot involving a relationship between Tripp and the hot school principal, which makes no sense if Tripp is trying to hide, and a jingoistic government subplot about the Cuban baseball team, which ridiculously is used to excuse Tripp's lies, but these are just diversions from a rather simple A-to-B storyline.

Once the plot is established, it's all baseball, until the end, where Tripp's machinations start crashing down around him. The baseball action, done with players, instead of actors, is very good, but without much drama or comedy between games, the pace gets oppressive. Director Hugh Wilson (Police Academy, The First Wives Club) has admitted that when dealing with Little League, there are simply too many games to deal with, and that makes the film longer than then it should have been.

First-time actor Shawn Salinas does well as the center of attention, balancing his baseball ability with the dramatic aspects of the story, without falling into Lifetime Channel territory. And of course, Connick is good in his role, as he always is. But the story, which seems to say if you break the rules, but do it for the right personal reasons, then it is OK, is troubling. This movie is packaged as a movie for families, but doesn't have the kind of message a family film should espouse, and doesn't have enough meat to keep non-baseball fan viewers interested.

The DVD
Anchor Bay has released Mickey on a single DVD, packaged in a standard keepcase with an eight-page insert that has an essay from Grisham, production notes, chapter stops and a baseball lingo quiz. The anamorphic, widescreen main menu is stylish and animated, with choices for scene selections, extras and audio set-up. Audio set-up options include a Dolby 2.0 track and a commentary, while the scene selection menus have still previews and titles for each scene. There are no subtitles, but the movie does have closed captioning.

The Quality
The anamorphic, widescreen video is very nice, with lush color, and no signs of any kind of digital artifacts, or dirt and damage. Blacks are solid, and grain is at a minimum, while fine detail is quite high. This movie is aesthetically quite pleasing. The audio, presented in Dolby 2.0, is acceptable, but nothing special. Scenes with a rock music soundtrack seem a bit more active, but overall, the audio gets the dialogue across cleanly, with some depth on the aural effects, like the pitching and hitting.

The Extras
There's a handful of extras included on this DVD, but upon closer inspection, they are mostly of the promotional variety. Up first are a pair of interviews, 10 minutes each, with writer/producer Grisham and director Wilson. The two creative forces behind the film talk mostly about what made them want to make this film, their feelings about baseball and sports movies, and how truly independent film making works.

A feature-length audio commentary by Wilson follows, and is very much like sitting at your grandfather's feet and listening to him tell you a story. Wilson is very relaxed (almost too relaxed) as he talks about what's going on on-screen, how various shots were achieved and he experiences during the shoot. Towards the end, there are larger dead spaces, but overall, it's an informative track that includes a good amount of Wilson's own opinion, which makes for an interest listen.

An anamorphic, widescreen trailer and a radio commercial are included, neither of which is particularly inspiring, along with a behind-the-scenes still gallery, with about 30 photos.

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*The Reviewer's Bias section is an attempt to help readers use the review to its best effect. By knowing where the reviewer's biases lie on the film's subject matter, one can read the review with the right mindset.