Like Mike (2002)

User Rating:

4.4/10   

Director:

John Schultz

Writers (WGA):

Michael Elliot (story)
Michael Elliot (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

3 July 2002 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Family | Fantasy | Sport

Tagline:

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

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

Shoe | Lightning | Orphanage | Orphan | Basketball

Awards:

1 win & 6 nominations

Cast

Bow Wow	...	Calvin Cambridge
Morris Chestnut	...	Tracey 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	...	Henderson
Stephen Thompson	...	Smith
Alex Krilov	...	Krivov
David Brown	...	Jones

MPAA:

Rated PG for brief mild language.

Runtime:

99 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Iceland:L | Brazil:Livre | Malaysia:U | USA:PG (certificate #39104) | Finland:K-3 | Argentina:Atp | Australia:G | France:U | Germany:6 | Netherlands:AL | Peru:PT | Philippines:G | Singapore:PG | Spain:T | Sweden:7 | UK:PG

Filming Locations:

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

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

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

Goofs:

Continuity: When Clavin wins the contest his ticket says seat 2 when he is sitting in seat 1.

Quotes:

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

Movie Connections:

Features Space Jam (1996)

Soundtrack:

Getcha Head In The Game

A good, clean movie that's fun for kids of all ages.

Like just about every other recent pop star before him, Lil' Bow Wow has landed the starring role in a major motion picture. Unlike the rest of them, he has managed to carry a good, clean family film. There's nothing too offensive here and kids of all ages (at least from the test screening) seemed to eat it up. While it's not terribly original (see "Rookie of the Year"), it's not trying to re-invent kids' movies, it's just trying to entertain in a fun, safe way, which it does.

Bow (Mr. Wow?) has enough boyish charm and enough charisma to show what could be a promising acting career in addition to his duties as a rapper. Morris Chestnut ("The Brothers") does well as an unwilling mentor who becomes a father figure to the orphaned boy. Crispin Glover is pretty creepy as the greedy "caretaker" of the boy, and Robert Forester and Eugune Levy both have humorous bit parts. Funny cameos by famous basketball players with obviously little acting skills give it an authentic feel.

While this probably won't do too well with critics, that's not who it was made for. The target audience is young kids and it will work for them. Parents won't have to worry about anything objective, except a questionable scene where Bow climbs an electrical wire in a rainstorm to recover his shoes. It's entertaining for kids and passable for adults taking their children. If this sounds good to you, you'll probably like it. If not, it wasn't made for you anyway.