Film captures Reeves’ spirit

There is an irony to a movie about a little boy who never gives up being made by a couple who themselves worked together to overcome the odds.

Today’s opening of the animated baseball film “Everyone’s Hero” marks the final project – and message – from Christopher and Dana Reeve, who both died during the making of the movie.

Its message mirrors the final years of their lives, say those who worked with the couple. Reeve, paralyzed in a horseback riding accident, and his wife worked tirelessly to find a cure for spinal-cord injuries, always believing the actor would walk again.

“It has a great message, which is really the philosophy that Chris and Dana Reeve had: Never give up,” says actor/director Rob Reiner, whose role in this film was to voice a talking baseball.

“We are getting the chance to realize Chris Reeve’s last vision and dream, which is to get this message out.”

The movie tells the story of Yankee Irving, a boy who grows up during the Depression idolizing Babe Ruth despite always striking out himself.

Yankee is ready to quit baseball when he finds himself in possession of the legendary player’s bat. He must hit the open road alone and, against all odds, return the bat in time for the Babe to use it in the last game of the 1932 World Series.

Along the way, he learns that “no matter where life takes you, always keep swinging.”

“The fact you know it’s Chris Reeve’s last project, it resonates with the film,” Reiner says.

Reeve died in 2004 while directing the film. His wife, who served as executive producer and lent her voice to one of the characters, died in March of lung cancer before the film was finished.

The project began as a bedtime story that Howard Jonas of IDT Entertainment wrote for his children years ago. When he decided to make a film version, there was only one person he wanted to direct.

“To me, there is no bigger hero than Christopher Reeve,” Jonas says.

After Reeve died, his wife encouraged the production company and others to carry on in his footsteps.

“I think what made it a lot easier was that his wife was executive producer. She, too, had that spirit,” says Colin Brady, who took over as co-director of the film after Reeve’s death. “It was kind of like having Christopher’s blessing.”

The movie, from IDT Entertainment and released by 20th Century Fox, underwent restructuring after an early executive screening, says Dan St. Pierre, a first-time movie director who was brought in with Brady to work on the movie.

“We had to stop and break everything down, and rebuild the movie,” he says. “The most important thing was maintaining Christopher’s original theme and his original vision.”

The restructuring, he adds, was overseen by Dana Reeve.

Many of the actors voicing roles signed on either gratis or at lower-than-normal scales because of the Reeves, according to producers. Reeve’s son, Will, also had a bit vocal role in the movie.

Neither Brady nor St. Pierre ever met Reeve, so they relied on those who knew him – especially his wife – to help them keep his spirit alive during the production process. But when Dana Reeve died, it threw the movie into more uncertainty.

“She passed away before we completely recorded her lines. There was some discussion about whether we would recast her voice,” Brady says.

But the cast and crew felt Dana Reeve was too important – both to the production and the character – to recast her role. Brady and St. Pierre sifted through her outtakes to piece together her unfinished lines.

Throughout the film, there are small salutes to the Reeves. The poster features a baseball flying through the air – much like Superman, Reeve’s most famous role. In the movie, the talking baseball, Screwie, says, “Up, up and away” – the Superman catch phrase – as he makes his own heroic gesture to help Yankee.

“That was a very succinct nod to Christopher’s legacy,” Brady says.