Mr 3000 (2004)

Aging baseball star who goes by the nickname, Mr. 3000, finds out many years after retirement that he didn't quite reach 3,000 hits. Now at age 47 he's back to try and reach that goal.

Director:

Charles Stone III

Writers:

Eric Champnella (story), Keith Mitchell (story),

Stars:

Bernie Mac, Angela Bassett, Michael Rispoli

1 win & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Bernie Mac	...	Stan Ross
Angela Bassett	...	Maureen "Mo" Simmons
Michael Rispoli	...	Boca
Brian White	...	Rex 'T-Rex' Pennebaker (as Brian J. White)
Ian Anthony Dale	...	Fukuda
Evan Jones	...	Fryman
Amaury Nolasco	...	Minadeo
Dondre Whitfield	...	Skillet
Paul Sorvino	...	Gus Panas
Earl Billings	...	Lenny Koron
Chris Noth	...	Schiembri
Neil Brown Jr.	...	Clubhouse Assistant
Scott Martin Brooks	...	Eddie Richling (as Scott Brooks)
Rich Komenich	...	Big Horse Borelli
David Devey	...	Cecil Gervis

Storyline

Stan Ross was a baseball superstar who turned his back on the game years ago when he finally hit 3,000 hits. Years later, he's now a successful, self-made entrepreneur whose many businesses revolve around his title: Mr. 3000. But a clerical error has proven that Stan is just short three hits of his spectacular hit record. Now, with time on his side and the potential to be inducted in the Baseball Hall of Fame, Stan must return back to the game and get back his title. But things have changed with age, and as Stan finds out, it's not too easy to get back into the game when he hasn't played for years, and he's nearing 50.

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Plot Keywords:

baseball | retirement | athlete | sports bar | friendship | 

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Taglines:

Big league. Big mouth. Big time.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance | Sport

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for sexual content and language

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

17 September 2004 (USA)

Also Known As:

Mr. 3000

Filming Locations:

Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$30,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$8,679,028 (USA) (17 September 2004)

Gross:

$21,800,302 (USA) (17 December 2004)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Touchstone Pictures, Dimension Films, Kennedy/Marshall Company, The

Technical Specs

Runtime:

104 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Two of the players on the Brewers are named Dylan and Pennebaker, which must be an homage to the director and subject of the rock documentary 'Don't Look Back'.

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Goofs

In Stan's first game back, the announcer says "lets go to the top of the 3rd." The Brewers are batting, and they're the home team, so it should be the bottom of the 3rd inning.

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Quotes

[Stan is in a commerical]
Stan: You don't like me because I sign autographs.
[hits a baseball]
Stan: You don't like me because I tell you what's on my mind.
[Hits another baseball]
Stan: But you love me because I am the greatest hitters alive!
[swings a few more hits]

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Crazy Credits

Without sports, this would have been a short film.

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Connections

References The Natural (1984)

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Soundtracks

"The Best is Yet to Come"
Written by Carolyn Leigh, Cy Coleman
Performed by Steve Lawrence
Courtesy of G.F. Music

User Reviews

Not Bad, Not Great, so...Good?

"Mr. 3000" has those moments, those moments where you agree that this should have been made into a multi-million dollar feature with big stars and extras and a caterer and all that. There's some pretty funny jokes. It's not a bad film. But it just doesn't really excel anywhere that a sports comedy worth its investment should.

Bernie Mac plays Stan Ross, the titular Mister, and he kind of has the feel for the role all down. But there's two scenes where Mac's inner nice-guy comes out and deflate the bloated jerk he's supposed to be playing. Therefore, the film has this two-headed character, one who is Bernie Mac improvising a nice little scene, and one who is Stan Ross, Mr. 3000 himself.

People have complained the film is too Disney, too formulaic, but the essence of sports is surprise within the bounds of formula. Disney's rules of narrative almost work here; the embittered jerk stripped of his former greatness finds redemption in a second try for his title. It's up to the filmmakers to make it work, to make the redemption by baseball story find nuance and still move the audience. When the drama works (exclusively on the baseball field) and the comedy too (exclusively near the baseball field), this film works too. When it doesn't (pretty much all the arbitrary directions the plot turns to show that he is a jerk), the movie falls flat. So enjoy, but beware the slow scenes with little meaning.