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Parents' Guide to

Like Mike

By Nell Minow, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 7+

Lil Bow Wow in family-friendly fantasy.

Movie PG 2002 100 minutes
Like Mike Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Community Reviews

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age 12+

Based on 3 parent reviews

Shannon F.
Shannon F. Parent of 5 and 8-year-old
May 28, 2022
age 10+

It was ok

This movie was ok. It had some parts that I was cringing at. There are a couple kids in the orphanage that are bullies and had several scenes with confrontation that seemed a bit tense for my five year old. My son also didn’t like the man who ran the orphanage. There was a scene where the kids taped him to a chair and left him and that was a bit much. There are also some scenes where the adult male talks about trying to be alone in a hotel room with a lady that I was hoping my kids didn’t pick up on because I wasn’t in the mood to have that conversation. I also wasn’t ready for some of the language. Damn and a few more words are used a couple times. I thought I heard the A word but not totally sure because I was making popcorn and was not going to rewind it to double check. My kids loved the basketball element of the movie and laughed at several parts.
doddy morris
doddy morris Adult
May 25, 2020
age 18+

its about..young boy. ..dream..

this movies..is good..for our..chidren
See all 3 parent reviews

What's the Story?

Pint-size rap star Lil Bow Wow plays Calvin Cambridge, who lives in an orphanage run by a meanie named Bittleman (Crispin Glover). Like Little Orphan Annie, Calvin's sunny outlook and determination sustain him, though he wishes he had a family. His best pals are Murphy ("Jerry Maguire's" Jonathan Lipnicki) and Reg (Brenda Song). The orphanage bully, Ox (Jesse Plemons), pushes him around, but Calvin does not allow Ox to affect his view of himself. A pair of used sneakers in a box of donated clothes has the initials "MJ" and there is a rumor that they were worn by a tall, bald, pro basketball player when he was a kid. Ox throws them onto a telephone wire, but Calvin gets them down in the middle of a lightning storm. (Parents might want to warn kids that this would not be a wise thing to try in real life.) When Calvin and the shoes are hit by lightning, something very special happens. When Calvin wears the shoes, he can play "like Mike." Calvin ends up playing for pro team the Knights, originally as a publicity stunt, but then as a real member of the team. The other teammates are at first skeptical and hostile, but they learn to appreciate his contribution. Calvin's roommate and assigned mentor is Tracey Reynolds (Morris Chestnut), a loner who does not speak to his father and does not want to get close to anyone.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (3 ):
Kids say (7 ):

LIKE MIKE has a formula intended for box-office heaven – a teen idol into a family-friendly fantasy. The best thing about the movie is its surprisingly able cast of supporting players, including Robert Forster as the coach and Eugene Levy as the team's publicist. Chestnut is real leading man material. LBW himself has a lot of charm. A number of NBA greats make brief appearances.

The script is right out of the Hollywood formula box, with everything from two different "shoes not there at the crucial moment" scenes and important lessons about teamwork to the winning shot going into the basket just as the buzzer goes off. It's a combination Air Bud and Absent-Minded Professor. The movie is oddly edited with some plot holes. We never find out what went wrong in Tracey's relationship with his father and we get very inconsistent information about his relationships with a couple of different women. The resolution with Bittleman is offscreen and unsatisfying, and many of the kids are still left without parents at the end of the movie.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about where the power really came from. Why did Calvin want a nickname? Why, when he wanted a family so badly, did Calvin reject some of the people who wanted to adopt him? What is a mentor, and how do you find one or become one? How much of what made Calvin a basketball star was in the shoes, and how much was in his heart?

Movie Details

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