Trouble with the Curve

Robert Lorenz's Trouble with the Curve, is a soft spoken, reasonably pleasent, but not all that memorable, baseball movie, which just so happens to star Clint Eastwood in his first role since 2008's excellent Gran Torino. Now, the first thing that you may find yourself asking is, is this film as good as Gran Torino? Not if it's life depended on it. But, I don't think that ithat s a very fair movie to compare this one to, because Trouble with the Curve is a sweet drama about an aging baseball scout (Clint Eastwood), who, finding himself becoming more and more bitter, and losing his eyesight, is accompanied by his annoyed daughter (Amy Adams), on one last trip to scout out some new hopeful talent. Now, this film has an excellent cast. Of course, there is Clint Eastwood, and the obviously previously mentioned Amy Adams in the role of his daughter, but the cast also contains such familiar faces such as John Goodman, Justin Timberlake, Mathew Lilliard and Robert Patrick, who are all very good. In fact, there really isn`t a bad performance in this whole movie. But, where the movie fails, is in a rather delicate area: The fact that it is not very memorable, and that it is virtually just one long walking series of long-ago recycled cliches, with actors spouting out tired lines, even if they do the absolute best they can, and, with singular plot points coinciding, including a flashback scene to Amy Adam`s characters childhood, it all just feel like we have seen this in so many other dramas. And yet, despite the fact that you would probably expect to be watching this movie with the stail eroma of ancient-used drama cliches, the movie still manages to keep a fresh face, none the less, and it is definitely one of the most comfortable and easy movies to watch, making it one of the more pleasant movies to come around in some time. Still, the movie is Rated PG-13 for a reason, and the following content is pretty much as follows, so, here we go: There is not much in the way of violence in this film, but there are two scenes that stick out. Both of which are scenes of Eastwoods character defending his daughter, with the first one o him attacking a drunk bar-goer with a broken beer bottle after he tires to hit on her, and later, a rather disturbing and upsetting scene where he brutally beats (although mostly unseen) an implied child molestor half to death in a shed. Also, there is frequent sexual references, whicha re mostly in the form of crude dialoge, which some lines being so graphic that practically no childrne in the audience we even be able to understand them in the first place. Also, there is frequent alchol consumption,. and about sixty-five percent of the movie takes place in stuffy bars, where there is moderate drinking of alcohol, occassionally to the excess. And, finally, the mainr eason why the film gets a PG-13 Rating in the first place is mainly becuase of the frequent and mdoerate profanity, which include one very powerful and memorable use of f--k, but there are also many uses of sh-t, cr-p, d-mn, g-dd-mn, a--, a--h-le, d-ck, b-tch and more. So, in the end, Trouble with the Curve is a fairly enjoyable and pleasant baseball drama, but, considering the fact that Clint Eastwood is involved, you just think that it would be so much more memorable than it actually is. Reccomended.

Very good movie. Love Eastwood and Adams so I knew I had to see it! Fine for most teens.

An ageing baseball scout, Gus Lobel (Clint Eastwood), is struggling to retain his position in his organization. His daughter Mickey (Amy Adams), who holds a grudge against her father for bailing on her during childhood, joins him on a trip to North Carolina where Gus is scouting for new talent. It’s a ‘slice-of-life’ film. The father-daughter relationship, the budding romance between Amy Adams and Justin Timberlake and the self-discovery phase that all the three principal characters go through, makes ‘Trouble With The Curve’ a compelling watch. Gus Lobel (Clint Eastwood) is an ageing baseball scout, who is losing his vision, struggling to keep his place in his organization. His superior Pete Klein (John Goodman), who does not want Gus to go away, asks Gus’ daughter Mickey (Amy Adams) to accompany him on a trip of North Carolina to make sure that he is fine. Mickey doesn’t get along with her father, as the latter had left her post his separation with her mother. However, despite the false start, Mickey and Gus reconnect with each other and start sharing their life’s problems. Mickey has her own grievances at her workplace where she has been recently appointed as a partner. Here, the father-daughter duo meets Johnny Flanagan (Justin Timberlake), a rival team’s scout who was once scouted by Gus when he was a player. The story revolves around these three self-respecting, imperfect and gifted individuals. The film has a ‘slice-of-life’ story. The actors, Eastwood, Adams and Timberlake, deliver fine performances. Their characters were very real, very human, and thus, so full of infirmities. Gus’ drive to prove his worth despite losing his vision, Mickey holding on to her father despite losing a golden professional opportunity and Johnny trying his very best to look for someone who wouldn’t waste his talent like he himself did when he was a player, makes the film very endearing. Quite a few ‘little moments’ stand out in the 2-hour-film. Gus’ final call of reckoning, Mickey’s coming-of-age when she manages to hunt down a world-class pitcher, Johnny’s rage when he is discouraged by Gus from picking a much-talked-about player, Baseball conversations between Mickey and Johnny, the romantic equation between the two and many more. The understated performances and subtle dialogues make this film very relatable to audiences across the globe. The screenplay is a bit long than one would have liked, but the film does end on high! Writer Randy Brown has written a fine, albeit simplistic, story that really strikes a chord with the viewer. There is not much of ‘sports’ per se in the film. Luckily, there’s not much baseball ‘jargon’ in the film. So, even those who do not follow the game will not feel lost while watching the film. ‘Trouble With The Curve’ is based on relationships and ambition. A finely made film that leaves you a bit overwhelmed. Shivom Oza