With a co-directing credit for Christopher Reeve (yes that Christopher Reeve),a great subject matter (not the biggest baseball fan but it's fun to see film and television revolving around it every now and again and a voice cast that includes Whoopi Goldberg, William H. Macy, Mandy Patinkin and Forrest Whittaker, 'Everyone's Hero' promised a lot.

Unfortunately, this promise is not fully lived up. 'Everyone's Hero' is not awful, it is a little bit better than has been said but the criticisms against it are to me not hard to agree with, and has elements that make it worth a one-time watch, but not enough to be worth fully getting on base for. It could have been much better, the cast deserved better and while there are things that Reeve has done that were worthy of him and worth remembering him for (like his iconic portrayal of Superman) his posthumous co-directing credit for 'Everyone's Hero' is not one of them sadly.

'Everyone's Hero' is watchable, despite major short-comings. It is a very well intentioned film, not giving up in the face of adversity (an everyday struggle to overcome) is not a new idea but is a very easy to relate with one for particularly anybody who has been there like me. The positive messaging is not always subtle to put it lightly, but they were very much appreciated and are important values for anybody regardless of gender and age and regardless of how many times they have been dealt with in media.

Some of 'Everyone's Hero' is funny and touching in equal measure, the baseball setting is beautifully realised and fun to watch. There are some interesting ideas and some colourfully portrayed characters, especially the relatable lead characters and a truly enjoyably vile villain. The animation is bright and colourful with some nice attention to detail, the soundtrack is dynamic and uplifting and the voice acting is enthusiastic and fitting, especially the barn-storming turn of Macy who truly relishes the film's juiciest character. The target audience is clear and the film does its best to attract a wider audience, including those not big on animation but are die-hard fans of baseball.

For all its good things and good intentions, 'Everyone's Hero' to me was heavily flawed. The story does tend too often to be too formulaic and lacking in spark to stop blandness from creeping in, it too is rather too pat and nice for any conflict to be convincing and there are elements that are under-explored or not made clear enough, coming over as strange instead. The twist agreed is too ridiculous to be taken seriously, one of the most unbelievable twists personally seen in a film seen recently.

Despite some moments, there are too many cheap and predictable gags that one can see coming from miles away. Complete with references that really don't hold up well, and would go over the heads of even much older audiences who lived during the period the film is set or close to it. Even they are likely to be unfamiliar with who and what some of the jokes are referencing or find them too mean-spirited to be clever and funny (that Eleanor Roosevelt joke was a good example).

Although the clear target audience and attempts at wide audience appeal are to be applauded, it's almost as if the film tried too hard to cater to fans of old-time baseball that are the most likely to completely get the portrayal of the sport at that time and some of the jokes and even they may question the strange choices the film makes and the lack of accuracy. While most of the animation is good, some of the character designs are crude, stiff and lack focus and generally it's all very striking and competent but not always imaginative.

On the whole, watchable and laudable for its good intentions but uneven lacklustre. 5/10 Bethany Cox

A nice animated action/comedy for the whole family. Yankee Irving(Jake T. Austin)is a ten-year-old baseball fan that loves the New York Yankees. After all, his dad works for them. The young boy with an esteem problem finds himself in a position not exactly enviable. He witnesses Babe Ruth's prized bat Darlin(Whoopi Goldberg)being stolen during the 1932 World Series. With the help of a foul ball named 'Screwie'(Rob Reiner),Yankee follows the thief, Lefty(William H. Macy),all the way to Chicago in order to rescue the bat and return it to The Babe. Other voices include: Brian Dennehy, Forest Whitaker, Robert Wagner, Joe Torre and Raven-Symone.

The plot of this film concerns the son of a janitor at Yankee Stadium named Yankee Irving, who has to go off to rescue the stolen bat of Babe Ruth. The bat was stolen by a pitcher on the Chicago Cubs who would only be allowed to pitch if he retrieved the bat so the Babe wouldn't be able to hit in the World Series.

Its a weak story. The problem is that the story is trying very hard to have a point, that anyone can be a hero, that it loads itself up with clichés (For example the hobos with hearts of gold) and pat moments (there is no racism) that you never really fear for our hero or his quest. The plot completely falls apart at the end with a twist that is so dumb that it breaks believability (guess who hits a home run in the world series?). Its a disappointment.

The sad thing is that this film does have some pluses. William Macy's villain is absolutely vile. He's one of the great bad guys in years. You really do hate this guy. He's a fantastic antagonist for our hero and in a better film he would have been dynamite, instead he's wasted in a series of cheap gags who's punchlines are telegraphed way in advance. Yet its because he's the perfect evil force to Yankee Irving's hero that you continue to watch, just so you can see him get his just desserts.

The film also has a design that is beautiful to look at. Say what you will about the recent glut of computer animated films, this is possibly the most realistic of the lot. Its shot, for the most part like a live action film and it adds a nice dimension to the film. This is the first of the lot that really should have been made into 3D. I am in love with the idea of the train sequence in 3D.

Ultimately its a miss fire. Its a film with some good stuff and some bad stuff, that some how manages to trip itself up.

Wait for cable