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Same old plot is not as bad as the premise

elvistcob@lvcm.com | Las Vegas, NV | 03/04/2003

(2 out of 5 stars)

"OK, so two of our children watched the movie and liked it. I guess it was made for them, and at that level is not that bad, but it's not a great one for parents to endure. If you want glowing reviews, check the under-12 review section.This is the story of an orphan who gets picked on by bigger guys. He comes across some shoes that have "MJ" initialed in them. When he puts them on he becomes the best basketball player in the world, humiliating today's current stars, who all seem to be having a good time in the movie. Two reasons it can't get more stars than me. Maybe the kids have not seen countless films with exactly the same plot, so for them it's pretty fresh. But this is the same old story of a very bad team getting some new factor added to their chemistry that makes them winners. When the new factor is there, they all play way above their former levels. When the new factor is not available, they all stand around not knowing what to do. And there is a big game at the end, where the factor showing up or not, instead of everybody continuing on their own merits becomes the big concern. And on and on.But that doesn't bug me so much. Part of the economy of Hollywood consists of the need to put out new products every week, and there are only so many original ideas. It's not art, but it keeps people employed and young ones who don't know any better occupied for awhile. What does bother me is when the factor introduced to make the team a winner gives them an unfair advantage. "Angels in the Outfield" did the same thing. In that movie, balls were caught that shouldn't have been, and hits were made that shouldn't have been. As rewards come with winning, it means that the team that has just won with this unfair advantage, and the losing team, with more talent, does not get these rewards. Also, in the case of this movie, who is the player who has to work hard, but get benched when a little kid with magic shoes bumps him out of the lineup?Finally, the writers have to be careful when constructing the "factor" that makes the play better. What if the kid found a bottle of magic pills that did the same thing? That would be a big no-no, as we start getting into performance-enhancing-drug territory. But then, if drugs are banned because they can give an unfair (if short-term) advantage, aren't magic shoes in the same territory? Or angels? Or flubber? I hate to be a spoil-sport on this, but I think these movies teach kids to look for the gimmick to win, instead of working hard, which is what it's going to take in real life."