Straight up acting talent
Trouble With The Curve (12A, 111 mins)
Drama/Romance. Clint Eastwood, Amy Adams, Justin Timberlake,
John Goodman, Robert Patrick, Matthew Lillard, Joe Massingill.
Director: Robert Lorenz.
Like a fine wine, Clint Eastwood gets better with age.
Now in his early eighties, the screen icon and Oscar-winning
director continues to work tirelessly behind and in front of the
camera.
Some of his best work has been reserved for the past 10 years,
including Million Dollar Baby with Hilary Swank and Morgan Freeman,
as well as Letters From Iwo Jima and Gran Torino, in which he plays
a cantankerous Korean War veteran.
Eastwood essays another short-tempered curmudgeon in Trouble
With The Curve, a beautifully crafted sports drama that is as every
bit as old-fashioned as the leading man.
Scripted by Randy Brown, the film marks the directorial debut of
Eastwood's long-time producing partner Robert Lorenz, who wisely
chooses to focus on the actors.
He is rewarded with terrific performances from Amy Adams, Justin
Timberlake and the prolific John Goodman, and of course Eastwood,
who clearly relishes the role of an ageing, technophobic baseball
scout, who takes one look at a hotly tipped pitcher and scoffs,
"I've seen all this guy's got. My daughter can throw better than
that!"
Gus Lobel (Eastwood) is considered old-fashioned and inflexible
by management at the Atlanta Braves, including general manager
Vince Freeman (Robert Patrick) and his sidekick Phillip Sanderson
(Matthew Lillard).
"We all hate to think it. He may be ready for pasture," coldly
remarks Phillip.
However, the club's scouting chief Pete (John Goodman) trusts
Gus and fully supports the decision to send Gus to North Carolina
to assess a slugger with attitude called Bo Gentry (Joe
Massingill).
Pete asks the old man's daughter, Mickey (Adams), to accompany
her father on the trip.
She discovers that Gus's eyesight is failing and he has kept
this secret from his employers for fear they will consign him to
the scrapheap.
With a big promotion on the line, Mickey joins her father on the
road, becoming his eyes as he searches for the next big thing.
In the process, Gus and Mickey cross paths with former pitcher
Johnny 'The Flame' Flanagan (Timberlake), who now works as a scout
for the Red Sox.
The young pretender takes a romantic interest in Mickey and
threatens to distract her from the serious business of
scouting.
Trouble With The Curve is predictable and at times pat but
there's an undeniable pleasure watching the stellar cast tease out
the best in each other.
Eastwood and Adams are a fiery double-act, wringing genuine
tears from their characters' miscommunication, and the romantic
sub-plot with Timberlake doesn't smear on too much gooey
sentiment.
Scriptwriter Brown throws his own curveball in the closing
minutes as Gus makes his decision about whether the Braves should
bid for Bo Gentry, neatly stitching together plot threads so
there's a comforting sense of closure for us and them.
:: Swearing :: No sex :: Violence :: Rating: 7/10
To find local screenings for Trouble With The Curve, click
here.
28/11/12
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