Starring:
Bernie Mac as Stan
Angela Bassett as Mo
Michael Rispoli as Boca
Brian J. White as T-Rex
Ian Anthony Dale as Fukuda
Evan Jones as Fryman
Amaury Nolasco as Minadeo
Dondre Whitfield as Skillet
Paul Sorvino as Gus Panas
Earl Billings as Lenny Koron
Chris Noth as Schiembri
Neil Brown Jr. as Clubhouse Assistant
Scott Martin Brooks as Eddie Richling
Rich Komenich as Big Horse Borelli
David Devey as Gervis
Special Features:
Deleted Scenes with director commentary
Outtakes
Extended scenes, including SportsCenter and The Tonight Show featurette
“Spring Training: The Extras Journey” featurette
“Everybody Loves Stan” featurette
“Making of Mr. 3000” featurette
Director audio commentary
Other Info:
Widescreen 1.85:1
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
DTS 5.1 Surround Sound
French and Spanish Subtitles
Running Time: 103 Minutes
Synopsis:
The following is from the DVD cover:
“This hilarious, crowd-pleasing hit scores big laughs with funnyman Bernie Mac “Bad Santa, Ocean’s 11”. and Academy Award(R) nominee Angela Bassett (Best Actress, “What’s Love Got To Do With It,” 1994). The day he got his 3,000th big league hit, Stan Ross (Mac) walked away from the game believing he’d punched his ticket to the Hall of Fame. But 10 years later, Stan becomes baseball’s biggest error when it’s discovered that three of his hits don’t count! Now this over-the-hill former star with an oversized ego decides to make the major leagues’ most outrageous comeback in order to regain his claim to fame! Also featuring Chris Noth “TV’s Sex And The City, Cast Away” and Paul Sorvino “The Cooler,” “Goodfellas” … catch the laugh-packed comedy that’s been a home run with audiences everywhere!”
Mr. 3000 is rated PG-13 for sexual content and language.
The Movie:
Stan Ross (Bernie Mac) is Mr. 3000. After 18 years in the Major Leagues, all with the Milwaukee Brewers, Stan gets his 3000th career hit and promptly quits, even though the Brewers are pushing for the playoffs. With sights of the baseball Hall of Fame clearly in his eyes, he opens up a series of “Mr. 3000” stores in a strip mall. The problem is that Stan is a self-centered egomaniac and almost no one, former teammates and sportswriters in particular, likes him. However, 3000 hits is a milestone and he seems sure to gain entry the 5th time he is eligible, but a statistical error is found reducing his number of hits to 2997 and reducing his chances of getting into the Hall of Fame to almost none.
Bernie Mac does a great job in portraying unlikable people that you can feel for. Stan is a miserable person that only looks out for himself, but he seems redeemable. Angela Basset is a good counter to Mac as she plays Mo, an ESPN sports reporter that is slowly being shoved out for fresher, and younger, faces. Mo had covered Stan in his prime and they had covered each other after the games. The rest of the cast are all likable baseball stereotypes.
The rules of the game are treated pretty well, as is Stan’s comeback attempt. Baseball purists will have some snide comments about a statistical mistake being caught much quicker and aspects of the Hall of Fame voting process, but this is a light hearted comedy and some leeway can be given. The story itself is a simple one and progresses in a fairly linear fashion. Many of the jokes are fairly obvious, but they are executed well and are entertaining.
Technically, the movie is routine. Being a sports comedy, there are no big budget effects, but what effects they do have are done well. The soundtrack is a mixture of old and newer songs that blend in well with the storyline, and the cinematography is up to Hollywood standards.
Who should see this movie? Bernie Mac fans will like him here. He is as obnoxious as normal, but in a way that most people can relate to. Baseball fans should enjoy the fun the movie plays with egotistical baseball stars. If you are looking for deep insight or a lot of action, you will have to go someplace else, but if a light comedy with a little romance is what you are looking for then Mr. 3000 could be for you. Overall, it is a fun fluff of a movie that is good at what it wants to be, and not much more than that.
The Extras:
There are quite a few bonus features included on this DVD. Here are the highlights:
Deleted Scenes with director commentary There are only three deleted scenes. One shows Stan going to the team doctor for a physical and finding out that she’s a woman. She tells him he needs to drink less and exercise more. A second scene shows two of the team players betting about soap opera stars. The final deleted scene shows the full EA Sports video game commercial. All of these can be viewed with an alternate director commentary.
Outtakes This is your standard outtake reel with flubbed lines and such. The clips mostly feature Bernie Mac messing up lines and cussing.
Extended scenes There are a few extended scenes from the film here including a longer ESPN SportsCenter segment and The Tonight Show scene. These have just a couple of extra lines and not much more.
“Spring Training: The Extras Journey” featurette This featurette shows how all the baseball player extras from the film were auditioned. There were a lot of pro players that tried out and actually ended up being in the film. This video follows their progress and shows where they ended up in the final picture.
“Everybody Loves Stan” featurette This is a very brief series of clips showing various baseball pros and celebrities bad mouthing Stan. It’s an amusing piece featuring Tom Arnold, Bo Jackson, and others.
“Making of Mr. 3000” featurette This is your standard “making of” feature showing interviews with the cast and crew, behind the scenes footage, and more. They discuss the early writing of the film, the fact that Denzel Washington almost took the lead role, the media participation in the film, and more.
Director audio commentary Director Charles Stone III provides the commentary for the film. Typically when only one member of the crew provides the commentary, it is a little dry. But Stone actually keeps things interesting and discusses the improvisations by Mac, his own experiences with baseball as a kid, how they shot the film, and more.
The Bottom Line:
Mr. 3000 is a light sports comedy that is entertaining. Fans of Bernie Mac should enjoy it quite a bit.
