TROUBLE WITH THE CURVE

Photos courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

Clint Eastwood heads south to scout baseball’s number one prospect in the family drama TROUBLE WITH THE CURVE.  Eastwood is Gus, a veteran scout for the Atlanta Braves, one who has provided the organization with some of its best players for the past 30 years.  Yet as the sport has progressed, Gus hasn’t, relying on the same techniques for scouting as he always has.  He’s sent to North Carolina to check out hot-hitting high school prospect Bo Gentry, but has currently been struggling with his eyesight.  

His daughter Mickey, played by Amy Adams, a successful lawyer seeking partnership, meets up with Mickey in Carolina, despite the demands of her position.  Risking her professional future, Mickey decides her father's predicament is more crucial than her personal success.

                                                          

Some may think that TROUBLE WITH THE CURVE is the antidote for those that believe MONEYBALL and its sabermetrics are baseball blasphemy.  Although TROUBLE WITH THE CURVE has its heart in the right place, it could have used a little more baseball insight from the creative minds behind MONEYBALL.

First and foremost, the film is a family drama, set against the backdrop of baseball.  Oh there’s talk of baseball, particularly the banter between Mickey and her love interest Johnny, played by Justin Timberlake, but the extent of baseball knowledge seems relegated to trivia and analogies, rather than the intricacies between the foul lines.  

Eastwood and Adams are terrific, with Clint at home as the grizzled old veteran who can’t leave yesteryear behind, and Adams as the concerned, head-strong and caring daughter who feels overwhelmed with her responsibility as a lawyer and daughter.  When the film is focused on these two, it works, even if the talented actors are often pressed to make the sappy dialogue ring true, and they usually do.  

In the end, TROUBLE WITH THE CURVE tries to mix too many pitches into its dramatic arsenal, when a fastball and a change-up would have delivered just what the film needed.  I don’t recommend this well-meaning, well-acted, but poorly written baseball drama.

Grade: C+