Al (Albert Brooks) is, at the moment, a hapless scout for the New York Yankees. His last sure thing pitcher tossed his cookies on the mound in front of the huge crowd, just before he bolted for the turnpike. Al is sent to Mexico this time and not in any known territory. Unbelievably, in the Mexican hinterland, an American named Steve Nebraska is just waiting for Al to discover him. And, what a discovery! Steve can pitch at 106 miles an hour and hit a baseball over 600 feet, even if he is a bit weird. Al brings Steve back to NY and the Yankees, most impressed, sign him on one condition. Nebraska must pass a psychological examination! Can he do it? Will the shrink dandily named H. Aaron help? The premise of this movie, along with Albert Brooks' fine performance, are enough to sustain this movie to the end. Fraser, also, does another fine turn as the freaky kid on the block. But, one can not help but say what if. There are several loose ends that just never get tied and the result is a good movie but not a great one. Bull Durham, Major League, and It Happens Every Spring, now these are fine baseball movies. This one just doesn't measure up. Still, if you are a baseball movie fan, you will want to see this one, sure. This film is loaded with good ideas that are worth exploring and jabbering about. Stock up on hotdogs and colas and invite the baseball buddies over for a screening.

Why do they let Brendan Fraser keep on making movies? He's not funny, he's hideously deformed and his antics get on my nerves like you wouldn't believe.

A scout for the Yankees, after finding prospects in the past who "flake out", is sent to Mexico where he finds Steve Nebraska (Fraser), the greatest ball player that ever lived. But after a mandatory psych exam, Nebraska begins to "flake out", too.

The general plot is decent, and the idea of a perfect ballplayer is a fun one (though hardly original, especially after I just watched "The Natural"). But Fraser is not a likable character for me, and I was really hoping he would be hit by a bus. The film is thoroughly predictable with no twists or surprises at all, and an ending that still leaves some key issues unexplained (again like "The Natural" it ends rather abruptly). I can't say what they issues are at the risk of writing spoilers, although I don't know how you can spoil a film this simple.

In the beginning of the film, the scout brings in Michael Rapaport as his star player (before Rapaport flakes out). Now, if he had brought in Fraser and then later on had Rapaport playing Fraser's part, this film might have been one of the better baseball movies ever made. But whoever did the casting clearly has no idea that Fraser is utterly worthless as an actor. A few cheap laughs in "Bedazzled" and "Encino Man" do not a great comedian make.

Albert Brooks co-wrote and stars in this sometimes-bright but terribly unsubtle comedy about a talent scout for the New York Yankees who loses his reputation after getting a skittish college Freshman signed to the team (the Yankees apparently scheduled the kid to pitch in a televised game without any training or pre-game publicity whatsoever, so don't they get what they deserve?); Brooks is banished to South Central Mexico to find talent, and yet when he comes up with another promising pitcher, he's fired over the telephone (in one of those excruciating sitcom developments the movie occasionally falls prey to). The new pitcher (Brendan Fraser, still in "Encino Man" mode) is a child in a young man's body, thereby linking the scout and the player on an emotionally-needy basis (not solid ground for laugh-out-loud comedy). Brooks as an actor is very ingratiating--he always has been--but this material, despite some very amusing one-liners, is stale, highly concocted, and immature. Many real-life sports luminaries appear in cameos...perhaps they should have been allowed to strengthen the script. ** from ****