Like Mike (2002)

A 14-year-old orphan becomes an NBA superstar after trying on a pair of sneakers with the faded initials "M.J." inside.

Director:

John Schultz

Writers:

Michael Elliot (story), Michael Elliot (screenplay),

Stars:

Bow Wow, Morris Chestnut, Jonathan Lipnicki

1 win & 6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Bow Wow	...	Calvin Cambridge (as Lil Bow Wow)
Morris Chestnut	...	Tracy Reynolds
Jonathan Lipnicki	...	Murph
Brenda Song	...	Reg Stevens
Jesse Plemons	...	Ox
Julius Ritter	...	Marlon (as Julius Charles Ritter)
Crispin Glover	...	Stan Bittleman
Anne Meara	...	Sister Theresa
Robert Forster	...	Coach Wagner
Eugene Levy	...	Frank Bernard
Roger W. Morrissey	...	Marvin Joad (as Roger Morrissey)
Timon Kyle Durrett	...	Henderson (as Timon Kyle)
Stephen Thompson	...	Smith
Alex Krilov	...	Krilov
David Brown	...	Jones

Storyline

Calvin and his friends, who all live an in orphanage, find old shoes with the faded letters MJ connected to a powerline. One stormy night, they go to get the shoes when Calvin and the shoes are struck by lightning. Calvin now has unbelievable basketball powers and has the chance to play for the NBA.

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Plot Keywords:

shoe | orphan | lightning | orphanage | basketball | 

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Taglines:

Think like Mike, Achieve like Mike, Be Like Mike.

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Genres:

Comedy | Family | Fantasy | Sport

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for brief mild language

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

3 July 2002 (USA)

Also Known As:

Calvin - Voll am Ball

Filming Locations:

First Union Center - 3601 S. Broad Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$30,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$306,422 (Australia) (17 January 2003)

Gross:

£1,242,842 (UK) (17 January 2003)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, Heller Highwater Productions, Josephson Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

99 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The mystical shoes in the movie come from the Salvation Army thrift store.

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Goofs

When Calvin takes on Stacey when his seat number is called the clock is set at 60 seconds, however there are two clocks and they are unsychronised.

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Quotes

Tracey Reynolds: Calvin, I think you should stick to basketball. You know why? You can't rap!

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Connections

Referenced in Thirteen (2003)

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Soundtracks

"NBA 2K2"
Written by Jermaine Dupri and Rahman Griffin
Performed by R.O.C.
Produced by Jermaine Dupri for So So Def Productions, Inc.
R.O.C. appears courtesy of So So Def Recordings

User Reviews

Proof that IMDb should at times be ignored

This is by no means, an awful film. I recently downloaded a copy of the film for my sister and she thoroughly enjoyed. She actually enjoyed it so much, she watched in 3 times in the next week! She told me it was a great film and I began to watch it.

I must admit, at first the film seemed a little weird but very soon the film introduces you to Kalvin, Reg and Murph and the bully leader Ox. That was one particular strength for the film. Also, when the coach gives Kalvin the tickets, you can start to connect with the character and understand what his life as an orphan must be like. The film got my attention and I began to enjoy it. It had, to be fair, not many laughs but the story was good, closely resembling the story 'Holes' in many ways.

Tracy Renalds was a brilliant addition to the film and he really connected well with Kalvin. This was, in my opinion, the biggest strength of this film.

Brenda Song does a great job as playing Reg. I'm a big fan of 'Suite Life of Zack and Cody' where she does an amazing job and I thought her performance was great in this film. Bow Wow did a very good job in the film.

Overall, definitely ignore IMDb on this circumstance and watch this film. However, note that this film is not for all ages and its mainly for little children but I myself being a 16 year old liked it.