Swing ... and a miss

What could be more American than baseball? Mediocre movies, of course. "Mr. 3000" is a movie that plays with the oh-too-familiar sports movie formula. \nUnfortunately, this time we aren't going to remember it as well as "Major League" or even "Field of Dreams." Bernie Mac does carry the movie but not enough to excuse the continuity errors or weak story line.\nBernie Mac plays Stan "The Man" Ross, a self-centered, but extremely talented first baseman, who in his prime of playing baseball, gets his 3,000th hit. Stan then hurts his team, who is in contention for the pennant, by retiring. Nine years later, we see Stan hasn't changed much, or even aged, for that matter. \nRight before Hall of Fame calculations are taken in, it is discovered there's been a mistake. Stan Ross's hit record was recorded wrong, and he only has 2,997 hits. At a low point in his life, Stan decides the only thing to do is get back those three hits. Since Stan's team (the Milwaukee Brewers) are in last place and in need of attendance at their games, Stan is taken back. Here's where the lesson comes in. Stan realizes that he is no longer as good as he was, and in order to get his three hits and to reclaim the title "Mr. 3000," he has got to be a better team player. \nThis movie was billed as a comedy, but a key element is missing: the laughs. The obligatory love story in the movie is between an old friend/sports reporter Mo Simmons, played by Angela Bassett. This was strictly thrown in to meet the needs of the formula sports movie. \nThe flick isn't above product placement either. It is fairly apparent what is being advertised at all times, especially in scenes with Mac computers. You would think they probably got a big check for that. Maybe the movie studio should have used that money on a better script. \nBernie Mac is the only redeeming quality of the movie. Funny as Bernie is, the jokes have to be good for the movie to work. \nIn 1992, there was a movie about a player no longer in his prime having to learn to be a team player called "Mr. Baseball." I think someone was watching TBS late one night and said "Hey, let's change this script up a little bit and sell it as 'Mr. 3000.'" Save your money on this one, and wait for a movie that's actually a home run.