One of the best films i have seen

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Partially directed by the tragic Christopher Reeve, the computer-animated Everyone's Hero was released in 2006 and featured parts voiced by such luminaries as Rob Reiner, William H. Macy, Brian Dennehy, Whoopi Goldberg, Robert Wagner, Joe Torre, Mandy Patinkin, Forrest Whitaker and Reeve's wife, Dana. While primarily aimed at children, there are enough references in it to keep adult baseball aficionados happy. The story focuses on Yankee, a kid who lives with his parents in a tenement in the Bronx near Yankee Stadium in 1932 (the clever animation replete with the reproduction of old newsreels provides a panorama of the depression era, palatable to a pre-pubescent audience). After Yankee discovers a talking baseball (Rob Reiner) who eventually becomes his pal, he visits his father who's employed at Yankee Stadium as a maintenance worker. At the behest of the rapacious owner of the Chicago Cubs, a Cub pitcher breaks into the locker room and steals Babe Ruth's (talking) bat Darlin' (Whoopi Goldberg). Yankee witnesses the theft but his father doesn't believe him and back at home sends him to his room. Soon afterward, Yankee's father loses his job as he's held responsible for the theft.The rest of Everyone's Hero focuses on Yankee's sojourn to Chicago in his attempt to recover the purloined bat and return it to the Babe. Along the way, he meets baseball players from the Negro Leagues who give him a ride to Chicago where the Yankees face the Cubs in the 1932 World Series.While well-intentioned, the films' scenarists strike more than one wrong note in trying to please both children and adults. The biggest sin is casting the Cubs (represented by their maniacal but goofy owner) as the bad guys and the Yankees as a group of sportsmen who can do no wrong. By taking sides, Chicago's baseball team is unfairly maligned, which sets a bad example for kids, not only because it's untrue but it also promotes an aura of unhealthy competition for kids to emulate.Another sin involves the introduction of the Negro Leagues into the narrative. On the surface, it appears the films' scenarists should be commended for making the Negro Leagues' players part of the story. Their disgraceful exclusion from the national pastime prior to World War II is a sad chapter in American history that all Americans should study and at the minimum, be made aware of. Unfortunately the whole idea that Negro League players were excluded from baseball is not made clear in the film and the depiction of the players being "happy-go-lucky" does a disservice to the historical reality. Perhaps it was felt that children would not be able to digest the ugly history but in some way the screenwriters should have found a way to communicate the reality of racial discrimination without offending juvenile sensibilities.Finally, the narrative takes a turn at the denouement that perhaps only younger children will enjoy but will effectively turn off more sophisticated kids and accompanying adults. I'm referring to the absurd turn of events where Yankee is allowed to bat in a World Series game and hits an "inside-the-park" home run, winning the game for the Yankees. While talking bats and baseballs may be interpreted as a figment of a kid's imagination, no such interpretation can be made on the silly conceit of a boy being allowed to bat in a major league baseball game.While very young kids might enjoy Everyone's Hero, anyone older should be turned off by the overwhelmingly goofy tenor of the characters' machinations. Mix that in with the rather ugly turn of favoring one team over another and surprisingly you have a children's' film that is pretty much unfit for children.

Everyone's Hero (2006): Dir: Christopher Reeve, Daniel St. Pierre, Colin Brady / Voices: Rob Reiner, Whoopi Goldberg, William H. Macy, Raven-Symone, Mandy Patinkin: Very funny family animation about self worth. Yankee Irving loves baseball but he sucks at it. Then after being ridiculed by peers he finds a baseball named Screwy that can talk. One thing that directors Christopher Reeve, Daniel St. Pierre and Colin Brady rightfully allow is only the kid to hear the voices. Plot regards the theft of Babe Ruth's bat, Darlin' and Yankee's desperation to return it thus clearing his father's name whom was fired when a cheating pitcher stole it. Structure is disjointed and the ending is predictable but children will be delighted in the cheerful animated characters. Rob Reiner voices Screwy the cranky baseball who is down on himself until Yankee gives him reason for existing. Whoopi Goldberg voices Darlin' the famous bat who cannot roll straight. William H. Macy voices Lefty the evil pitcher who is outsmarted by Yankee . Raven-Symone of Cosby Show fame is also featured amongst the voice talents. Mandy Patinkin plays the boy's father who is a janitor at the stadium where all these games take place. Amusing references to baseball is a howl but its real catch is its theme regarding self worth and the encouragement of not giving up especially when it benefits others. Score: 8 / 10

Everyone's Hero is charming kiddie fare. I didn't hate it but the story sorta screamed straight to video. However, for a film about a talking bat and baseball, I think I was a little more entertained then I expected to be.I like others thought the premise was a little ridiculous, but it gives the feeling of a Saturday morning cartoon where inanimate objects talk for no reason. Fair enough. The premise was still box office poison. Still, the film has some characters that aren't gratingly annoying, and of course the exaggerated one dimensional villains that you would expect. Aside from the lukewarm story, I was a little disturbed by some of the sequences involving young yankee irving in situations that are quite dangerous, aside from the realistic overall film. There is a looney tunes-esquire train segment where characters are jumping from train to train at full speed, and the end where yankee seems to acquire superpowers. Also, the very idea that he travels across half the country and it's kind of downplayed, it just doesn't mix well with the "you can do anything" theme of the film. It suggests to young children that they can literally do anything. It just doesn't seem like the best message to convey. Other than that, it's cute and not terribly original. The animation reveals obviously that this film wasn't done on an 100 million dollar budget, I think what they came out with matches the tone of the film. I'd recommend it to anyone with young children who enjoy baseball or for anyone who needs just a fun little film to pop in the DVD player to distract the kids for a little while.

Oh, yes, EH's language is safe for kids. No f-, d-, b-, s-words at all. General ideas of taking care about parents, and believing in yourself are OK. Yes, Finding Nemo or Bug's life were about the same points, but that's the only thing, which they have in common.Animation is visually plain and poor in design, nothing to compare with Pixar's production. The most disappointing thing about EH was animation of stunts. When animators didn't have a clue how to solve a stunt they just added supernatural abilities to realistic heroes. Stretching limbs, twisting spine, etc. Dialogs and lines were at level of that garbage animation on Nickelodeon, times inferior to Pixar's scripts. There is one thing I found weird about the Hero as a parent. 7 year old 3D-boy easily jumps between moving trains, dangles at 20-meter height, runs from home, talks to homeless people, and this is served as right things to do, no doubts or warnings. As my 6 y.o. son likes to repeat after heroes I'm not sure it's perfectly safe to show him this flick. No, I'm not a cuckoo parent obsessed with safety. While watching Incredibles or Harry Potter he knew that they were supernatural, so he didn't want to repeat after them. But together with EH's finale message of "despite of you're small, you can do everything" I'm not that sure.And the last point - it's absolutely not enjoyable for adults, so calling it a family movie is a big exaggeration.