Trouble With The Curve

It's been awhile since I last saw this so I figured it would be good to revisit it.

So 4 years after the supposed final acting role of Clint Eastwood in Gran Torino, he was brought back into the fray by one of his movie making pals and convinced him to do this movie and I'm very happy he did. I actually quite like the story to this movie, it takes a dash of sports movie predictability, adds some good and even really shocking family drama in, and just has Clint Eastwood being a crotchety bastard throughout as he plays a sports scout for the Braves named Gus who reconnects with his daughter and comes to terms with his failing sight while scoping a promising new draft pick. The first thing I gotta say is, holy balls this cast is something else. Grumpy Clint Eastwood, smartass yet awesome Amy Adams, pretty boy Justin Timberlake, cool John Goodman, and a surprising heel turn for Matthew Lillard which is really great to watch tell you the truth. You really have this A-grade cast and they all pull it off, even Justin Timberlake who in the pantheon of music stars turned actors does fine work. The direction is basic but good, but I actually expected that a bit since this was the first time Robert Lorenz was in the director's chair after being assistant director on many of Clint's films. I very much enjoyed the dynamic between Amy and Clint, they got good chemistry and the baggage the characters have while some of it is really out of left field, and even striked me sort of unnecessary, didn't take away from the rough impact it leaves on your mind once you learn of it. Again, not much of a sport's person and will never be but from the sports films I have covered in the past there's more to it than just the game cause that is what draws me in. It's not about Rocky Balboa boxing, it's about the character of Rocky. It's not about baseball in The Sandlot, it's the fun stories of these kids during the summer. It's not about Goldeen winning the gold at the Olympics, it's...well everything about that movie. It's probably gonna be years before you see me get to something like The Blind Side, Friday Night Lights, Major League, The Mighty Ducks, etc. mostly because I don't give a rat's ass. I gotta read like 6 Dune books before October people! But anyway, good film, solid 3 stars, 7/10, see you next time when I eat my own words.