Like Mike is a wonderful film for kids and families, but there was one thing that left me disappointed: Michael Jordan himself is strangely absent. Seeing little Calvin go toe-to-toe (or, more accurately, face-to-kneecap) against the stars of the game is loads of fun.
LIKE MIKE ACTORS MOVIE
What kid wouldn't love to play on a pro basketball team? Director John Schultz packs the movie with cameos from real players (like Steve Nash and Jason Kidd) that give it a bit of authenticity. This is also just a great wish-fulfillment tale. The two actors generate such warm chemistry that the obvious mechanics of the plot are easily overlooked. If Bow Wow is the heart of the story, Chestnut is its soul. It helps that the film has a strong supporting performance from Morris Chestnut that supplies unexpected depth. Although I knew he would get one at the end, I still felt my empathy for him growing. He plays Calvin as a smart kid, desperately longing for a family. Lil Bow Wow proves himself a charismatic performer, able to make you care about his character without resorting to cutesy camera mugging. Like Mike is sweet and funny - a feel-good movie in the truest sense of the word. Anyone who's ever seen a movie will know how each of these issues will be resolved long before the characters do.Īnd yet it doesn't matter. There's even a plot thread involving the developing father/son relationship between Tracy and Calvin. The subplots are as predictable as their outcomes: Tracy envies the way Calvin keeps showing him up, the team needs to pull together in order to get to their first-ever championship series, Bittleman tries to keep Calvin under his thumb. Like Mike is one of those movies that manages to overcome a very generic story through sheer charm and likability. Lil Bow Wow earns a slam dunk with his debut feature Like Mike Bittleman (Crispin Glover), who sees the chance to profit.
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This sits well with the greedy orphanage director, Mr. When he outshines the team's star player, a savvy promoter (Eugene Levy) and the team coach (Robert Forster) sign Calvin up to play for real. He is suddenly blessed with basketball skills matching those of his idol.ĭuring a pro game for the fictional Los Angeles Knights, Calvin wins a half-time contest where the prize is a chance to play one-on-one against Tracy Reynolds (Morris Chestnut). When he puts them on, he discovers that they are magically powered. With the help of best buddy Murph (Jonathan Lipnicki), Calvin climbs up and grabs the shoes just as the lines are struck by lightning. Calvin finds the shoes in a batch of old clothing donated to the orphanage by "some famous basketball player," according to Sister Theresa (Anne Meara).Ĭalvin's sneakers are quickly confiscated by the orphanage bully and chucked into the power lines. The shoes fall into the hands of Calvin Cambridge (rapper Lil Bow Wow), an orphan who loves the game but is routinely ridiculed for his lack of ability in it. Spike Lee, playing the character Mars Blackmon, once famously said about Michael Jordan, " It's gotta be da shoes!" In the new movie Like Mike, it really is the shoes - a pair of old basketball sneakers conspicuously initialed "MJ" to be exact.