Like Mike

Los Angeles Times Kevin Thomas

Sure-fire heart-warmer: lively, funny yet emotion-charged and uplifting.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

The movie overcomes its lack or originality in the setup by making good use of its central idea, that a pair of sneakers could make a kid into an NBA star. This is a message a lot of kids have been waiting to hear.

Chicago Tribune Loren King

Doesn't win any points for originality. It does succeed by following a feel-good formula with a winning style, and by offering its target audience of urban kids some welcome role models and optimism.

San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle

Appealing movie, one of the summer's pleasant surprises.

Boston Globe Ty Burr

I don't want to sell Like Mike as something it's not. It's a cash-in, all right - just better written, more tightly edited, sharply performed, and a little more heartfelt than most.

Chicago Reader Ted Shen

Rides high on its old-fashioned sentiments and the precocious charms of its teenage star, who can be both obnoxious and endearing.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Sean Axmaker

The charisma of L'il Bow Wow's spirited screen presence turn a contemporary Cinderella gimmick and a by-the-numbers script into a better film than anyone would have expected.

Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey

It's basketball Fantasy Camp for the cost of a movie ticket.

Washington Post Michael O'Sullivan

Sappy but sweet B-ball Cinderella story that succeeds thanks largely to the outsize charm of its 4-foot-8-inch, corn-rowed protagonist.

Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern

This Flubbery fantasy won't win any prizes for elegant craftsmanship or originality, but it's entertaining, good-natured and a slam dunk to be a hit with young kids.

LA Weekly David Chute

A solidly crafted family comedy.

USA Today Mike Clark

Pleasant but not more than recycled jock piffle.

The New York Times A.O. Scott

The director's breezy steadiness keeps the movie from hitting us over the head -- well, not too hard, anyway, no small feat since the steroid-juiced sentimentality of the ending may force some to flee before the outtakes unspool under the credits.

Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman

Lil' Bow Wow deserves a better-made film than this pleasant, sloppily assembled fairy tale.

New York Post Megan Lehmann

Unfortunately, the vehicle chosen for the corn-rowed cutie's Hollywood coming-out party is pretty lame.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Nathan Rabin

Weirdly earnest and earnestly weird.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Liam Lacey

It's not so much a movie as a joint promotion for the National Basketball Association and teenaged rap and adolescent poster-boy Lil' Bow Wow.

New York Daily News Jami Bernard

Has something going for it that you wouldn't expect from the tired mechanics of the story — and that is the star-making appearance of 15-year-old rapper Shad Moss, who goes by the name Lil' Bow Wow.

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

Like Mike has the synthetically wrapped pseudo-charm of a perfunctory ''Flubber'' sequel.

New Times (L.A.) Robert Wilonsky

I liked when they had the paint fights and the pillow fights.

Variety Robert Koehler

The court action contains only a fraction of the hoops energy one would expect from a pic co-produced by NBA Entertainment -- and film suffers from the conspicuous absence of the title's Michael Jordan.

ReelViews James Berardinelli

A soulless jumble of ineptly assembled cliches and pabulum that plays like a 95-minute commercial for NBA properties.

Washington Post Ann Hornaday

The frightening myths about adoption that run through Like Mike make even its happiest endings a little bit creepy.

TV Guide Steve Simels

A harmless, if ultimately inane, fantasy-comedy vehicle for youngsta-rapper Lil' Bow Wow, a 15-year-old who's already an alarmingly accomplished scene stealer.

Austin Chronicle Marjorie Baumgarten

Like Mike is a slight and uninventive movie: Like the exalted Michael Jordan referred to in the title, many can aspire but none can equal. Even "Space Jam" was better than this.

Village Voice Mark Holcomb

A valueless kiddie paean to pro basketball underwritten by the NBA.

Film Threat Michael Dequina

There's no excuse to come within a hundred feet of a screen playing this monstrosity of a movie.