Everyone's Hero

You almost feel like a cynic complaining about a movie like Everyone's Hero. The movie is so spirited, sweet-natured, and downright harmless that criticizing it almost feels like kicking a puppy. To make you feel worse, the movie was co-directed by the late Christopher Reeve, and features his recently deceased wife, Dana Reeve, as one of the voices. Yet, as a film critic, it is my duty to be honest, and quite frankly, I cannot recommend this movie to anyone above the single digits. Those adults who find themselves taken to this movie by their kids, fear not. The film is perfectly watchable, has a good spirit, and is probably one of the sweetest and least offensive animated films to come along in a while. In a day and age where fart jokes and crude humor are the norm, Everyone's Hero is a nice return to times when children's entertainment really was intended for children. The movie has a good heart, but its somewhat questionable storytelling and bizarre look at a very sad time in US history made me wonder just what the filmmakers were thinking sometimes.

10-year-old baseball fan, Yankee Irving (voice by Jake T. Austin), lives in a highly sanitized and strangely upbeat alternate reality version of the Great Depression. True to his name, little Yankee is a huge fan of the New York Yankees, especially the great Babe Ruth (Brian Dennehy). Yankee has dreams of playing in the Majors himself, but he's never been very good, and is starting to lose hope despite the encouragement of his supportive parents (Mandy Patinkin and Dana Reeve). His dad happens to be a janitor at Yankee Stadium, and when Babe Ruth's precious lucky bat, Darlin', is stolen, his father gets the blame, since he was on duty that night. It turns out the real culprit is a slimy player for the Chicago Cubs named Lefty (William H. Macy), who was hired to steal the bat by the equally slimy manager of the team (Robin Williams in an uncredited performance) who believes that Babe's bat is magic, and if it is gone, the Cubs have a chance to win the World Series. In order to clear his dad's name, young Yankee decides to leave home and track down the Babe's missing bat before it's time for the big game between the Yankees and the Cubs. This being a cartoon, the kid has to have some wise cracking sidekicks, and in this movie they come in the form of a pair of baseball equipment who somehow come to life only when the kid is around - a cranky and smart-mouthed baseball named Screwie (Rob Reiner), and even Babe's missing bat, Darlin', gets a voice provided by Whoopi Goldberg once Yankee tracks it down.

Okay, so making sense is not one of the strong suits of Everyone's Hero, that much is already clear. Why Babe Ruth's bat (which is inanimate for most of the movie) suddenly grows a face and can talk as soon as little Yankee gets it in his hands is something the filmmakers keep to themselves. Same goes for Screwie the baseball. The movie makes it known that the kid is the only one who can hear them talk or know they're alive, but offers no other explanation as to how or why this miracle came to be. No matter, the movie does not exactly strive for realism, despite the fact it's a historically-based cartoon. This is a cleaner, happier, and more cheerful alternate reality version of the Great Depression where cheerful street hobos can be your best friends, no one really seems to be that hard up, and the Negro Baseball League listen to modern day rap-like music on their bus radio as they head off for the big game. By the time the climax arrives, where little Yankee Irving actually gets to bat for the Yankees and earns himself a chance to possibly win the World Series for the team, I wasn't really that surprised. After all, this is a movie where a 10-year old kid can hike cross country from New York to Chicago without any trouble or danger, because every stranger he meets is just so gosh darn incredibly friendly, and warm up to him in two seconds.

To say that Everyone's Hero is about as easy to swallow as a box full of thumbtacks is an understatement. I'm sure kids in the single digits, especially those who love baseball, will get lost in the fantasy the film creates and love every minute of it. But, anyone older will probably have a hard time holding back their laughs at each increasingly ludicrous plot development. I also can't wait to see how this movie goes over in Chicago, since not only is their team portrayed as coniving schemers and cheaters who love to threaten and endanger little boys and their talking baseballs, but they are also seen as being crude, crass, and just plain evil. Robin Williams as the team's evil manager is a real winner. He's this short, fat guy who actually looks suspiciously like a shorter and more comical version of the Marvel Comics villain, The Kingpin. He hacks and coughs constantly, he threatens little children, and he likes to torture bobble head dolls of Babe Ruth that decorate his desk for target practice. (Did they even have bobble head dolls in the 1930s?) I'm actually surprised that the team let the filmmakers use their name and actual logo, considering how evil they come across, but I guess they figure any publicity is good publicity.

I know this review has a highly negative slant so far, and while the film has more than its share of problems, there is also a certain sweetness and charm that cannot be denied. It has a good message for kids about following your dreams and never giving up, there are a couple good one liners here and there (most of them provided by William H. Macy as the more comic buffoon villain), and the movie knows how to be heartfelt and sweet without being sappy or manipulative. In an industry where G-rated animated films are becoming a rarity, it's kind of nice to see a children's film that just wants to tell a story (no matter how loopy it may be) instead of peddling merchandise. The animation is mostly pleasing to the eye, and surprisingly detailed for an independently-made cartoon film. Most of all, the voice talent is top notch, and able to bring genuine warmth and emotion to the characters. Okay, Whoopie Goldberg's somewhat forced Southern accent kind of got on my nerves, but the rest of the cast genuinely please. No matter how unbelievable the movie gets, it never loses its heart, and it actually made me smile on more than one occasion.

I can only recommend Everyone's Hero to kids who won't want to think about the plot. They'll be pleased by the cute animation, the upbeat story, and the message it provides. The movie is refreshingly free of fart jokes (there's only one tiny one), and the music montage sequences are not as frequent as some other recent family films. Everyone's Hero has a lot of heart, but not a lot of sense to back it up. If you can live with that, or are just looking for something for the kids to watch, you could do a lot worse than this. I'm not giving this film a recommendation, but something tells me if I was 20 years younger, I would be.

See the movie times in your area or buy the DVD at Amazon.com!

0 comments