Plot Details: This opinion reveals major details about the movie's plot.

Preamble
Don't you love it when you go into a movie with little to no expectations and you come out of it smiling from ear to ear? Thus is my experience with Like Mike.

The Story
Calvin Cambridge (Lil' Bow Wow) is a thirteen year old boy who happens to be an orphan. Unfortunately, he like some of his other friends in the orphanage, always get past over for adoption because they aren't cute, small puppies.

To pass the time, Calvin and his two friends, Murph (Jonathan Lipnicki) and Reg (Brenda Song) play a lot of basketball. Although Calvin is just over four feet tall, he hopes that one day, he can play in the NBA just like his idol Michael Jordan did.

One day, Sister Therese (Anne Meara) brings by a box load of old clothes. As she is pulling out a coat, a pair of old nikes falls out. Calvin is drawn to them, he puts them on and they're a perfect fit. Sister Therese mentions that they used to be the shoes of some basketball hotshot, but she forgets whom. On the inside of the shoes are the handwritten initials of M.J. Calvin is blown away at the thought that he is now in possession of Michael Jordan's gym shoes from when he was just a youngster.

The resident orphanage bully, Ox (Jesse Plemons) swipes the shoes and they end up being twisted around a power line.

That night, Calvin can't sleep. It's not because of the heavy thunderstorm, it's because he needs to get his hands on those shoes! Calvin drags Reg and Mur outside with him. He crawls up a tree and lays his hands on the shoes just as lightening strikes.

The next day, Calvin and the rest of the orphans get shuttled off to the local NBA sports arena to sell candy to the crowd. This is an every event occurrence so that the evil headmaster of the orphanage, Stan Bitterman (Crispin Glover) can pocket some change. Through a series of events, Calvin meets head coach of the Knights (Robert Forster). The next day, Calvin and his friends are treated to a game at the sports center.

In order to up the promotional factor at the game, Frank Bernard (Eugene Levy), the right hand man of the owner of the Knights, hosts half-time events in the hope of drawing in more people to the arena.

Calvin's seat ticket is selected for a contest between an audience member and Knight's player, Tracey Reynolds (Morris Chestnut). Through the "power" of MJ's shoes, Calvin is able to run circles around Tracey. Frank sees this as a promotional goldmine for the team. Tracey sees Calvin as nothing more than a snot-nosed punk who's wasting his time.

Can Calvin play basketball without his MJ shoes?

Will Tracey warm up to Calvin?

Will Calvin ever get adopted?

All of these questions, and much more, can be answered if you just go see the movie.

What Was Good
Lil' Bow Wow surprised me. You know who he is, right? He's a child rapper. Honestly, I'm not into his music. Not that I spend a lot of time listening to it. One of the things that I was worried about with him in this part is that like other musical artists, his music would take the front seat to the actual story line. Didn't happen. It was all about the relationship between a young orphan and a professional NBA player. And about five minutes after the start of the movie, I totally forgot that he had a different day job.

LBW is a good little actor with a range of emotions. He was totally believable as a thirteen-year-old orphan. Sure, it isn't an Oscar performance but I would keep my eye out for this kid in future movies. He's got talent.

Morris Chestnut - WOW!!!!!!!!!!!! Where to even begin with him. I've seen Morris in a couple of other movies like The Best Man and The Brothers and he always seemed to be in the shadow of other actors. Here, he is pivotal in the chemistry between Tracey and Calvin. Not only was he believable as an NBA star, but also he was fantastic at being a normal guy with some insecurities. The guy looked like he was having loads of fun with the part.

Even though the script is nothing new, my hat is off to writer Michael Elliot. He took a lot of well-worn clichés, managed to polish them up, and came out with a script that worked well. I'd love to see what he could do with a totally fresh idea.

Usually when you have an array of different types of actors (ages and acting abilities), the director has difficulty keeping the movie on an even keel. I don't know what director John Schultz did but whatever it was worked. The "real" NBA players came off as credible, all of the child actors came off as a vulnerable but strong, and the veteran actors weren't dumbed down. Hooray!

And speaking of the "real" NBA players, it was a real treat to see their cameos in here. They added a spark of humor that I just don't think that you could get with actors.

What I Would Have Changed
Crispin Glover who plays the evil headmaster of the orphanage is SO out of place. Every time I saw him, I was reminded of his George McFly stint in Back to the Future. I would have probably cast someone like Jeffrey Jones instead.

For Parents
Like Mike is rated PG for brief mild language. Honestly, I don't remember any horrible words being thrown around. There's no nudity and the only drug use is prescription drugs for sleeping and allergies :).

The End
I told you that this was great fun for the entire family. Now let me tell you why. Kids will like the story line. Moms will like all of the relationship stuff. Dads will like the sports stuff along with the NBA player cameos. Don't delay. Catch a matinee with your family.

Recommended: Yes

Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children up to Age 4