Everyones Hero – DVD Review

Film, Reviews


Available at Amazon.com

Director

Christopher Reeve

Cast

Rob Reiner (voice) Screwie
Jake T. Austin (voice) Yankee Irving
Whoopi Goldberg (voice) Darlin’
William H. Macy (voice) Lefty Maginnis
Brian Dennehy (voice) Babe Ruth
Forest Whitaker (voice) Lonnie Brewster
Mandy Patinkin (voice) Stanley Irving

DVD Release Date: March 20, 2007
Rating: G
Running Time: 90 Minutes

The Movie

Yankee Irving just doesn’t have the size, or more so the talent, to play the sport he loves more than anything in the world. Baseball is his life. He loves Babe Ruth, follows everything the Yankees do, and his dad even works as a groundskeeper for Yankee Stadium. That makes it almost inevitable that he would want to play the game with friends and just be around it all the time. Problem is, like I said, he just can’t hack it on the diamond.

It’s the early thirties, and Yankee seems to have received his last shot at playing with neighborhood kids when he strikes out and loses the game even though the team told him just to take the walk. Yankee is left alone but manages to come across at least one friend, and that happens to be a talking baseball named Screwie. Screwie is an old baseball who hates everything about the sport and wishes Yankee would have left him where he was to just rest forever. Screwie once was in a major league game and had aspirations of being a home run ball, but after one pitch was fouled out of the park never to be seen again. And now the only person that can see him for more than a regular baseball and hear him is Yankee. Two rejects have found each other, and they have a mission.

One night Yankee’s mom allows him to go the stadium and bring his dad, Stanley, his lunch. While there, Stanley gives his son a special treat and allows him to take a look at Babe Ruth’s custom made bat “Darlin.” Awe inspired, Yankee doesn’t notice the security guard who shoos him out. And it’s not until the next morning that Darlin has gone missing, and Stanley is the only one to blame because he was the only person who was supposed to be working last night. Nobody will believe Yankee’s story about a security guard either, because there wasn’t supposed to be one on duty.

Yankee needs to not only prove he is telling the truth so he can get his dad’s job back, but Babe Ruth needs his bat back or the Yankees will lose the World Series to the Cubs. After looking through his baseball cards, Yankee realizes the thief was no security guard but Cubs’ pitcher Left Maginnis setting out to sabotage the Babe and allow the Cubs to win the Series. Screwie makes a deal with Yankee that he will help him get the bat back if he can go back to the sandlot to “deteriorate in peace.” Yankee agrees and they’re off.

Making it to the train station and finding Maginnis really wasn’t as hard as they thought it would be. Hell, even taking the bat from him and getting away wasn’t hard. But during the operation, the trains started moving and Yankee is stuck miles away from home with only Screwie and Darlin, who also can talk by the way. It’s now time for Yankee and his new friends to make their way to Chicago and give Babe his famous bat so the Yanks can win the World Series and Yankee’s dad can be proven innocent. It’s a long way away and they haven’t seen the last of Maginnis either, but that won’t stop them.

If you’re watching this film and every five minutes you are reminded of the great film called The Sandlot, don’t be surprised. You won’t be the only one. There are so many similarities that it actually starts to get a bit annoying after a while. In both films, a young boy gets in trouble with his dad after something important involving Babe Ruth is taken. In both films, a young boy can’t play baseball well at all, but will do anything to prove he can. In Everyone’s Hero, there’s even a smaller version of “the Beast” that tormented the kids in The Sandlot.

Of course the films have their differences as well. The stories are totally different and Yankee also has no friends except for some talking sports equipment. The main problem is that the film just isn’t enjoyable whatsoever. It tries way too hard to be funny with lines that don’t even merit a slight giggle. Halfway through, it’s almost as if they are begging for laughs because the story kind of fades into the background so Darlin and Screwie can continue to argue and toss insults at one another. When all is said and done, it comes down to a rather unbelievable ending but a thankful one to end your boredom.

The Video

The film can be seen in either Full Screen or Widescreen formats depending on which side you put in since it’s a double-sided disc. Both versions come through very nicely and the animation is sharp and bright. The widescreen version did look a bit clearer and tighter though, but it wasn’t very noticeable.

The Audio

The film is heard in Dolby Digital 5.1 and sounds good too. The voice talents selected for the characters are some very well-known and superb actors that are easy to pick out just from what you hear. The musical score also plays a big part to the feeling and emotion of the film and it’s very good. It actually was the film’s only saving grace.

Special Features

Making Of Everyone’s Hero – Your basic “making of” featurette with the cast and crew remarking on how cool it is to see the animation process and see their characters come to life. The creation of the storyboards is shown along with the actors doing their voiceovers and seeing how it synchs up with the character’s mouths once the animation is complete. Nothing you probably haven’t seen before. I wish they would have shown why they had Whoopi Goldberg give the voice of a bat in the Bronx a Southern accent, but alas it was not to be.

Audio Commentary – Co-directors Colin Brady and Dan St. Pierre join co-writers Jeff Hand and Rob Kurtz all get together to provide commentary for the film. Watching the film once was enough because you aren’t going to miss anything if you don’t check this out.

Remembering Chris – Christopher Reeve died during the middle of directing this film. The cast and crew share their thoughts on what it was like to work with him and the type of person he was. It’s really a nice piece and interesting to watch because not only do we hear these fun stories, but there is footage of Reeve at work directing and helping create the storyboards and other things for the film.

Theatrical Trailer

TrailersFlicka, Garfield: A Tale Of Two Kitties, Ice Age 2: The Meltdown, Fox Family Fun Trailer, Fox Kids Trailer, and Care Bears: Oopsy Does It!

The Inside Pulse

There is no need to bother with even renting Everyone’s Hero, because it’s not even worth that amount of money. The only interesting thing on the entire DVD is the special feature dealing with Christopher Reeve, but try and find it online or see if someone else gets the DVD. This isn’t even a film your children would enjoy because it tries so hard to be funny that even they would look at it with blank stares. Go buy The Sandlot and enjoy a film that your whole family will want to watch repeatedly.

The DVD Lounge’s Ratings for Everyone’s Hero
CATEGORY
RATING
(OUT OF 10)
THE MOVIE

1
THE VIDEO

7
THE AUDIO

7
THE EXTRAS

3
REPLAY VALUE

0
OVERALL
2
(NOT AN AVERAGE)