Browncoats, Reavers and all that jazz … October 31, 2006
Posted by jackal in : Films, TV , add a commentAs a lifelong fan of US TV drama, I’ve lost count of the number of promising shows that were cancelled, and swiftly drifted out of my mind. They’re ten-a-penny, and now I don’t even bother to start watching if I know that, over in Burbank, the axe has already been dropped. What’s the point of watching a show with no future?
And so when, a few of months ago, a friend pressed his Firefly: the Complete Series boxset into my hands, insisting that I’d love it, I was not enthusiastic. It may have been the work of Buffy the Vampire Slayer creator Joss Whedon, but the way I saw it, if Firefly only lasted 14 episodes: a) how good could it be, and b) what’s the point of investing anything in the show?
But I’m a polite guy, so I watched the first few episodes … and was not convinced. It was an interesting enough premise to keep me watching, though: a western action drama that just happens to be set 500 years in the future in another solar system, coloured with Whedon’s quirky sense of humour. A civil war has just ended; our hero is on the losing side, and rather than live under occupying forces, he becomes captain of the small freighter Serenity and ekes out a living running inter-planetary smuggling jobs with his rag-tag crew of outsiders.
The show grew noticeably over its short run. By the end of the 14 episodes, the Firefly ’verse felt real, a living breathing place. The characters, many of whom had initially struck me as thinly drawn cliches, had grown in my affections immensely: the quality of the writing, and the actors’ performances bringing them vividly to life. The show’s myriad plotlines were just beginning to take root and develop - from my days of watching Buffy, I could sense the rich, creative, immensely entertaining future that Firefly would enjoy.
And then it died.
Cancelled shows, as I said at the outset, usually slip fairly quickly from my mind. Only Firefly isn’t your regular canned show. After all, how many cancelled shows have such a dedicated fan base that they’re resurrected as a big-budget movie? Star Trek achieved it, to huge success, but it took 10 years. Firefly was snuffed out in 2002, only to be back less than 3 years later as Serenity, written and directed by Joss Whedon. Part rebirth, part series finale, it wrapped up the series beautifully, and simultaneously took it to another level: a grander scale for the story, bigger and better SFX, the larger budget shining through in every area, and the cast clearly relishing the opportunity to inhabit their characters again. Whedon’s script (the most difficult thing he’d ever had to write, he says) tied up most every loose end from Firefly, and the film was also one mother-frakker of a fun ride (sorry; switched franchises with my sci-fi curse words there) 
But after the big, fat Serenity grin had faded from my face - now, in fact, months down the road, I still feel the urge to hunt down and strangle the Fox network executives responsible for killing the show. Was Firefly a truly great show? In all honesty, I’d have to say no, not quite - but it was well on the way. It had the potential to be so tremendously good in the long run … and never got the chance. That’s what makes it so hard for me to swallow.
The Rookie (2002) October 17, 2006
Posted by jackal in : Films , 1 comment so farI was thinking just the other day, back through the clouded mists of time to my movie-watching days as a little tyke. A couple of things stick with me: I remember that the first actress I ever had a crush on was the radiant Tahnee Welch in Cocoon (a lousy actress, like her mother, but that’s kinda missing the point), and the first ‘guy I want to be like when I grow up’ was Dennis Quaid - based largely on his wisecracking, devil-may-care test pilot, Tuck Pendleton, from Innerspace. Hell, I’m 24 now, and I still want to be like Dennis Quaid when I grow up. I can claim the same build (still working on the abs, mind), but his rugged good looks (and Meg Ryan) have sadly eluded me. Ah, well …
There is a point to my nostalgic ramblings: Quaid has had a bumpy ride since Innerspace almost 20 years ago. After overcoming a drug problem in the early 90s, he had to battle to get his career back on track, and it wasn’t until 2002 that he finally scored a major comeback: an acclaimed 
supporting role in Far From Heaven, and the lead in Disney’s sleeper hit The Rookie - based on the true story of baseball major leaguer Jim Morris, and which I revisited recently.
A minor-league baseball player as a teenager, Morris suffered an arm injury that ended his dream of pitching in the majors. Years later, Morris - by then a science teacher and high school baseball coach - lost a bet with his students that led to him attending a major league try-out. Despite his age and previous arm injury, it was discovered that Morris could throw the ball as hard as the best pitchers in the game. At the age of 35, Morris finally made his major league debut for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in 1999, striking out the first batter he faced.
Taking this inspirational story as its basis, The Rookie is a modern day Capra-esque fable about fulfilling your dreams. Despite generous doses of sentiment, the movie never becomes saccharine, and the strong supporting cast (including Brian Cox and Rachel Griffiths) bring the stock characters, and the film’s small Texas community, to life. Echoing It’s a Wonderful Life, the small-town world is championed in The Rookie: Jim Morris’ home life is comfortable, fulfilling, secure, so when he faces the choice of whether to chance everything for one crazy last shot at making the big leagues, you get a real sense of what he’s risking.
Morris’ eventual triumph in the final act is also beautifully handled: despite the fact that his debut for Tampa Bay was a brief relief appearance, striking out one batter in the late stages of a 6-1 loss to the Texas Rangers, the event is built up in the film by focusing on the characters’ reactions. You feel how much Morris’ achievement means to his wife, his young kids, and the town-folk eagerly following his progress. The movie captures the grand scale of Major League Baseball compared to Morris’ home town experience, with location shooting at The Ballpark in Arlington (real-life home of the Rangers) adding immensely to the realism, as Morris’ childhood dream finally comes true. Add this all up, and I don’t mind admitting that when the moment arrives for Morris to enter his first major league game (with Quaid filmed between innings at a real Texas Rangers game), I may have shed a tear. Or several.
Quaid himself, while bearing little resemblance to the real Jim Morris, excels in the title role. At 48, he retains the natural athleticism of a pitcher, and his ranks among the most convincing actor-as-athlete performances. Off the field, he’s entirely credible at every stage of Jim Morris’ transformation from contented high school coach to big league pitcher. I also have to make note of 8-year old Angus T. Jones, Quaid’s on-screen son, who is quite posibly the funniest, most likeable movie kid I’ve ever seen.
The Rookie was a surprise hit for Disney, supposedly striking a chord with middle-aged guys who identified with its fairytale story of recapturing the dreams of youth. I wouldn’t know about that, but I can testify that The Rookie is a warm-hearted and inspiring fable, a terrific baseball movie and, above all, feel-good entertainment of the highest order.
