Trouble with the Curve - Movie Review

These days, its not often you find Clint Eastwood in front of the cameras as his focus has been on directing pictures rather than acting in them. Amy Adams and Justin Timberlake however have become two of Hollywood's fastest rising stars over the last several years. The trio look to step up to the plate, knock one out of the park, and initiate every other baseball cliché you can think of in "Trouble with the Curve" which was written by Randy Brown and directed by Robert Lorenz.

Gus (Eastwood) has been one of baseball's most respected scouts literally for decades and his methods have never been questioned until recently as technology seems to be taking over an occupation that has traditionally used more hands on methods to discover the next generation of superstar ball players. Age and health issues have put the man in a tough spot and an uneasy relationship with his daughter Mickey (Adams) adds to a situation that could decide the fate of his career.

Honestly, I was really looking forward to this movie as any story about the National Pastime is going to be on my radar and when you throw in the three aforementioned primary actors along with a supporting cast that includes John Goodman and Matthew Lillard, you have a roster that should provide a winning combination. For the most part, this is a good story with solid acting performances that are the highlight of a story that unfortunately becomes mundane and predictable.

Adams and Timberlake are very good, as they usually are, in performances that are grounded in a reality that is pitch perfect for the movie. On the other hand, Eastwood goes a little too far in to the aging-not-so-gracefully, grumpy old man territory that we have seen from him already. Yes, I know this is the character, but there was just a little too much grunting and complaining and not enough real emotion put in to the role although I do also blame the author of the screenplay for really not giving him much to work with.

As the movie comes to its conclusion, any emotional drama is killed off by taking way too long for the already predictable story lines to play out. Even with these flaws, this was still a pretty good movie although won't be anything you remember for very long after leaving the theater. "Trouble with the Curve" ends up as a film that has more than enough talent to make the 25 man roster, but not nearly good enough to earn a starting spot in a major league lineup.