This was a fun, enjoyable, film. It's as much about accepting the maturity of middle-age as it is about the main plot of a retired pro baseball player literally getting back into the game to hopefully achieve a benchmark statistic: 3,000 base hits. Bernie Mac is player Stan Ross, and Mac's onstage standup persona informs much of the portrayal of Ross: Gruff, self-confident, chip on his shoulder, but also with a sensitive side beneath all the "onion" layers. Ross's presence on his old team is polarizing among the players, but he quickly becomes an unofficial assistant coach, offering salient observations about team player performance and the competition alike. This film was produced by Touchstone/Buena Vista, so look for cameos by Disney-owned ESPN personalities as well as other celebrity pundits and TV hosts.Ross's behavior before his retirement pushes the edge of cartoon-like satire, but the ensuing plot progression is intriguing, including the relationship with Bassett's sports reporter "Mo". This aspect in particular bears mentioning. Here you have two middle-aged African American single adults (especially Bassett, who remains severely underused) who are allowed to be vulnerable, haughty, and nervous with one another. It's a demographic portrayal that is often bereft in mainstream American film releases.The bullpen camaraderie is engaging, particularly the mutual ongoing hazing and the tensions between Ross and Pennebaker. Intriguingly, the asides between the two men have nothing to do with race, but the price of letting ego drive your career even if you're talented-- Ross being a Baby Boomer who came of age when African American player participation and fan attention was at a zenith, and Pennebaker being a Gen X guy in the era of astoundingly huge contracts, hip-hop-infused on-and-off-field flamboyance, yet dwindling black American players and fans alike. Ross's chase of hit 3000 is a worthy main plot, but the generation gap in modern pro baseball could have provided another intriguing alternative narrative.

People always ask me why I can't see movies as just entertainment and why I feel the need to place everyone under examination, like I'm trying to magnify every little aspect. Why can't I just enjoy the movie? They misrepresent me and forget when I review a film, I'm putting down my thoughts and this is my opinion; I try and extend mine past simple, fragmented remarks. I'm using this as the introduction to my review of Charles Stone III's Mr. 3000 because I can see every point at which I'm about to make being refuted with the statement, "it's entertaining, who cares?" This is where the average moviegoer and myself see ourselves at odds.Mr. 3000 will be found entertaining by baseball fans, fans of sports films, and those looking for light-hearted comedy that can't be burdened to think much. There is nothing wrong with that at all. It concerns Stan Ross, an unbelievably arrogant, self-centered baseball player who gets his three-thousandth hit right at the beginning of the film. He is so arrogant and self-centered that he goes into the crowd and snatches the ball from a kid's hand. In the locker-room after the game, giving a post-game interview, Ross announces that he will quit mid-season, leaving his team hanging. He got three-thousand hits; what more does he have to do? Nine years later, however, an error is discovered after Ross is about to be entered into the Baseball Hall of Fame, leaving him with two-thousand nine hundred and seven hits and not three-thousand. He decides that even at forty-seven, he should return to his old team - the Milwaukee Brewers, who are now struggling in fifth place - and hit the ball three more times to be an official member of the three-thousand club.Stan Ross is played by Bernie Mac, an actor who oozes likability and wry humor when he needs to. Because of this, seeing him play a cantankerous, unnecessarily arrogant ballplayer is disheartening, and this persona becomes such a drag that by the time the inevitable plot-points ring true and we're left with a corny ending, we still couldn't bother to side with this man - at least I couldn't. When we focus on a character who has been disrespectful and disgustingly narcissistic for more than half of the film and at the end the film makes us try and side with him, as he slowly begins to realize the pain and lonesomeness that comes with being so brazenly self-indulgent, I can't be bothered to have sympathy for the man. Narcissism is single-handedly the trait in people I despise the most, and even when Ross is clearly being sincere near the end, I saw nothing but smarmy behavior and false kindness in him.It's no secret that baseball players can be the most self-indulgent athletes around. I frequently attend minor league games and see stuck-up attitudes abound - and that's a single-A division. There is indisputable truth to the Stan Ross character in baseball circles, but do people really want to watch a film about a sickeningly arrogant ballplayer? Considering Mr. 3000's lukewarm box office receipts, I'm guessing not entirely.Besides its irredeemable character and the predictable sentimentality that endures, Mr. 3000 is a perfectly watchable film. For one, it features some of the slickest editing I've seen in a baseball picture, especially during the scenes on the diamond, which become briskly paced and somewhat tense when Ross is up to bat. Not to mention, Paul Sorvino gets a bold moment to shine, and the scene when the players are talking about the "sounds" of baseball from years past is wholesome and kindly nostalgic. Now if only the film's title character could possess traits closer to the latter than the ones he holds onto now, which are nearly stomach-turning.Starring: Bernie Mac, Angela Bassett, and Paul Sorvino. Directed by: Charles Stone III.

SPOILERSThere's something somewhat predictable about this film, but after 30-45 minutes of the film (yes, I'm reviewing it half way through), it's enjoyable.The late Bernie Mac is Stan "Mr 3000" Ross. An arrogant, egotistical individual who never cared about his team or the fans. Instead all he thinks of is that 3,000 home runs and getting into the hall of fame.When it becomes clear that the records are wrong, Ross assumes he can just walk back into the game and reclaim his name. Sometimes life doesn't work like that.So, let's not beat around the bush, this is not an original film.The plot is predictable and you can more or less write out the script in advance.If anything though, that is part of the charm. You don't need to think about it, you simply watch and you simply enjoy.Character personalities change over night, cinematography, soundtrack and direction fluctuate between mediocre and woeful. However the one endearing factor is that in the title role, Mac shines.Yes, it's not a challenge role for him, but the film was never going to be an Oscar contender.It is simply a fun, relaxed, happy film that you can watch and (dare I say it) feel inspired by.Not one to go out and buy, but if it's on TV and there's nothing better to do, you might as well watch it. There are worse ways to spend an evening.

Mr.3000 stars the lovable Bernie Mac who proves here that he could carry a film as the leading man. It is a real shame we wont get to see any more of him. The movie shows us the development of his character and, despite his often obnoxious behaviour, i really engaged with character. Angela Basset is a delight as always and the film doesn't just fall completely in line with sports movie clichés. That is confirmed with the ending, which i wont spoil, but was a real surprise.I don't think it will shock that the movie ends happily and him and Basset end up together, but that's what we want to happen.