John Grisham wrote the screenplay for and produced the enjoyable Mickey, a family drama that explores--typical of the bestselling author--seemingly unresolvable conflicts between the personal and the ethical. Harry Connick Jr. plays California attorney Tripp Spence, a widower whose recent bankruptcy has come under scrutiny from the IRS. Admitting wrongdoing to his son, Derrick (Shawn Salinas), Tripp vows to avoid jail, and the two head for Las Vegas under assumed identities. Rather than stay out of sight, however, Tripp talks the manager (Mike Starr) of a first-rate Little League team into drafting Derrick, a 13-year-old, talented pitcher who claims to be younger. Soon Derrick is attracting national attention, precisely what Tripp doesn't want, yet he refuses to squelch his son's brilliant ride to the top. Hugh Wilson (Guarding Tess) directed this brisk, smart feature, which includes a generous amount of on-the-field baseball action and an intriguing subplot about Cuban ball players. --Tom Keogh
Stills from Mickey
Harry Connick Jr. as Tripp Spence
Shawn Salinas as Derrick, a.k.a. Mickey
Writer/producer John Grisham cameos as a Little League Commissioner
When widowed attorney Tripp Spence (Harry Connick Jr. of INDEPENDENCE DAY) finds himself wanted by the IRS, he and his young pitching sensation son Derrick (Shawn Salinas in his movie debut) change their appearance, assume new identities and flee to Las Vegas. Here, Derrick becomes `Mickey' and Tripp enrolls him in a second final year of Little League. But as the nation, the government and a nervous Tripp watch, `Mickey' leads his team from the city championship all the way to the controversial final game of the Little League World Series. Can a 13-year-old fugitive with an 80 mph fastball now find a way to stay anonymous - and honest - as the most famous 12-year-old athlete in the world? Michelle Johnson (FAR AND AWAY) and Mike Starr (DUMB AND DUMBER) co-star in this exciting and powerful drama directed by Hugh Wilson (POLICE ACADEMY, THE FIRST WIVES CLUB) from an original screenplay by #1 best-selling author and proud Little League coach John Grisham
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