rating of . The site's critical consensus says, "Bernie Mac demonstrates he can play the game even if the movie's a few innings short of a complete game." Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale. Roger Ebert praised Bernie Mac for delivering a "funny and kind of touching performance" that's believable, Bassett for infusing a "convincing emotional spirit" into her character and the film overall for sidestepping its sports comedy formula, saying "to my surprise, it finds a variation." Anita Gates of The New York Times gave praise to Stone III for directing a film that mixes "laughter and meaning" thanks to the "bull's eye-casting" of his supporting players and Mac for crafting a multi-layered character, concluding that, "[I]f there was any question about how well [Bernie] Mac's charm, demonstrated in stand-up comedy and on his Fox sitcom, would play on the big screen, the news is good: no problem." Kevin Thomas from the Los Angeles Times praised Mac for giving "range and resonance" to his title character and the filmmakers for being able to "reconfigure[d] a sports movie plot to bring to it depth as well as laughter, and, better yet, made it unpredictable." He concluded that, "Mr. 3000 is good-looking and smooth, with a great soundtrack that communicates just how intoxicating the roar of the crowd can be to an athlete. But it's more than the expected gleaming Hollywood production. The movie's images of Stan grappling with his destiny all alone are at once easy to identify with and hard to shake off." Scott Tobias of The A.V. Club said, "Sputtering along on Mac's sleepy improvisations, Mr. 3000 volleys between the dumb, frat-house wackiness of Major League and the "Wonder Bat" schmaltz of The Natural, chasing the gags with a lame baseball-as-life message about playing for the right reasons." Marrit Ingman of The Austin Chronicle said it pales in comparison to Stone III's debut effort Drumline, in terms of that film's "amiability and no-nonsense moral center", and replacing it with numerous sports montages, "lowbrow gags" and "lazy, shorthanded characterizations." Box office The film took over $8 million at the box office on its opening weekend. In all, it took $21,811,169 in the US and Canada, and a further $28,190 when it was released in Spain, for a global total of $21,839,377. Soundtrack "Shining Star" – Earth, Wind