Like Mike

This topic contains:

• details about Like Mike's classification and consumer advice lines
• a review of Like Mike completed by Young Media Australia (YMA) on 18 January 2003.

About the movie

This section contains details about the movie, including its classification by the Office of Film and Literature Classification (OFLC) and the associated consumer advice lines.

YMA review

This review of the movie Like Mike contains the following information:

• a synopsis of the story
• use of violence
• material that may scare children
• sexual references, nudity and sexual activity
• use of alcohol and other drugs
• coarse language
• the movie's message
• overall comments

A synopsis of the story

The story begins at an orphanage where 13 year old Calvin Cambridge dreams of being adopted and becoming a famous basketball player. The only problem is that he can't manage to get the basketball through the hoop. Calvin firmly believes that every orphan has a special destiny and thanks to a pair of "magic sneakers" and a lucky seating ticket he finds himself playing one on one during halftime with Tracy Reynolds of the LA Knights. Calvin at only four and a half feet tall manages to out-shoot, out-score and out-manoeuvre this professional player with such never before seen skill that he is immediately signed on as part of the team.

Calvin travels with the Knights to all their games and sure enough leads the previously loosing team to victory after victory and ultimately to the play-offs. Throughout the film Calvin faces resentment and hostility from certain members of the team, he is constantly harassed by Ox, a bully at the orphanage, and is continually exploited and deceived by Bittleman, the money-hungry director of the Group Home were the orphans live. Through Calvin's determination and kindness the players learn the value of teamwork, Ox learns a lesson in helpfulness and the scheming orphanage director experiences the pitfalls of excessive greed. Calvin himself begins to realise that life doesn't always work out just the way you planned and that your destiny isn't always what you think it should be, sometimes it is so much better.

Use of violence

The film contains a moderate amount of violence. Most of the scenes where there is some sort of violence are essentially low key. For example:

• Ox, the bully at the orphanage, has a habit of harassing Calvin. On one occasion he grabs Calvin's shirt and shoves him and on another he lunges at him to try to take off Calvin's shoes.
• Ox initially struggles with Calvin over a pair of shoes that may or may not have belonged to Michael Jordan, eventually grabbing the shoes away and flinging them over an electrical wire.
• The orphanage director Bittleman begins to burn the only picture that Murph has of his Mum.
• The kids forcibly restrain and tie Bittleman to a chair in order to retrieve Calvin's shoes.
• Calvin shoves his motorised scooter into Bittleman in order to make it to the game on time.
• The most serious use of violence is when three bookies use their cars to try to run the kids off the road as they attempted to make the play-offs in time. In the film, the kids managed to out-manoeuvre the bookies; however in real life the outcomes would most likely have been far more different and potentially far more serious.

Material that may scare children

The film contains a few scenes that have the potential to scare very young children. There is a scene in which Bittleman makes one last ditch effort to keep Calvin from reaching the play-offs in time, the camera angle and shadows make him look evil and ugly as he threatens Calvin in a menacing tone. Calvin, however, does not play the part of a victim. He takes matters into his own hands and quite calmly triumphs over the Bittleman who winds up looking very silly. There is a possibility that children under five could also be scared by a later scene in which Bittleman burns a picture of Murph's Mum.

There is also a tense and dangerous scene in which Calvin climbs up a tree in the pouring rain (in the middle of the night) to rescue the shoes that Ox tossed over some wires. Lightening is flashing overhead and Calvin leans dangerously out towards the shoes and the electrical wire. He barely clings to the swaying tree branch, nearly falls once and then just as he grabs the shoes lightening hits the wire and Calvin falls to the ground, but is not hurt. This scene is very unrealistic and children should be warned of the dangers and consequences of imitating such behaviour.

Sexual references, nudity and sexual activity

In essence there is no nudity or sexual activity in this film. However there are two issues that may be worth noting. The Cheerleaders, who do feature on a number of occasions are wearing very little clothing, what they are wearing is extremely short and extremely tight. The second instance is implied sexual activity, when Tracy, Calvin's roommate, tries to bring a girl into the room in the middle of the night. His plan backfires when the girl decides to "mother" Calvin who is feeling sick from indulging in excessive room service.

Use of alcohol and other drugs

This film is essentially free from alcohol use apart from one scene in which Calvin's potential adoptive family is having lunch and everyone is drinking from wine glasses.

There is one instance of over the counter drugs being used inappropriately. Tracy heads to the Pharmacy for some allergy medication and some sleeping pills to help him endure Calvin's snoring. While talking to the beautiful female pharmacist Tracy confuses the two medications and accidentally takes two sleeping pills instead of his allergy medicine. The result is that he falls asleep at the wheel while driving back to the hotel. Fortunately he falls asleep while stopped at a traffic light and there appear to be no other cars on the road. Calvin then gets some items to sit on so that he can see above the steering wheel and "drives" the car back to the hotel. Parents may wish to discuss this scene with their children because the problem was solved illegally and dangerously by an under aged driver ploughing through things (rubbish bins and workers barriers) to get back to the hotel.

Coarse language

The film contains the some mild coarse language. There is one instance where a manager of the Knights comments about crowd numbers saying that: "Attendance is in the crapper." And again the need to "Put some asses in those seats." On a couple of occasions throughout the film you will hear the word "Damn!"
There are also a number of instances of name-calling. These are generally done by Bittleman who seems to take pleasure in making the children feel as if they were "abandoned junk". His favourite word is "idiot." For example: "Don't 'I guess' me, you idiot!" and "You just let me out of here you idiot!" A couple of times Ox calls Calvin a "little runt". There is nothing stronger than any of these, however parents may not wish to expose very young children to some of these phrases.

The movie's message

The take home message from this movie is that everyone has a destiny and it is up to each of us to find or make our own. It is that family and friendship is more valuable than fame or fortune. And that kindness, persistence and teamwork can lead you to achieve things that would have been impossible to achieve before.

Some values that parents may wish to encourage are honesty, teamwork, generosity and hopefulness.

Some values parents may wish to discourage are deceitfulness, greed, hostility and maliciousness.

Overall comments

This is a film that will appeal to wide variety of ages. The effects of Calvin flying through the air and scoring impossible points are fantastic. The acting, in most cases. is professional and very believable. It leaves you with the impression that anything is possible if you focus your mind on achieving it. The film is also somewhat predictable; it is clear early on what the outcome will be.

The film contains a fair amount of disrespectful behaviour, such as Ox bullying kids at the orphanage, Tracy's initial attitude towards Calvin, Bittleman's entire personality and the way that the treated the kids at the group home.

Children under 7
Not recommended for children under 7 due to the combination of violence and potentially dangerous scenes.

Children aged 8-12
Could see this film with their parents, who may need to discuss some scenes and some issues with them afterwards.

Children over the age of 12
Could see this film on their own, but again it may be a good idea for parents to be aware of the content and to discuss some scenes with them.