Trouble With The Curve [Blu-ray]

Trouble with the Curve, Clint Eastwood?s latest outing, is a movie Hollywood can be proud of. Despite its lack of a decent script or a believable plot structure, this predictable baseball flick is still a good time thanks to the endearing romance of Amy Adams and Justin Timberlake. If ever three talented actors were wasted on an insipid film, this would be it.

The Movie:

Who would knowingly make a movie about the superiority of traditional baseball know-how over computer-generated statistics only a year after Moneyball? Clint Eastwood would, apparently, as that?s the general point of Trouble with the Curve. Directed by Eastwood?s former right-hand man Robert Lorenz, the movie is equal parts griping about youngsters ruining the game and father-daughter bonding between Eastwood and Amy Adams. Both parts are perfectly amiable; neither part is particularly interesting.

Gus Lobel (Eastwood) is an aging scout for the Atlanta Braves with a resentful lawyer for a daughter, Mickey (Adams). When the doctor tells Gus he has glaucoma, Mickey doesn?t force him to see a specialist, but instead decides to tag along on his latest scouting trip as an extra set of eyes. Along the way, they catch up with Johnny Flanagan (Justin Timberlake), a former pitcher whose career ended prematurely with a torn rotator cuff, and who is now a half-hearted scout for the Red Socks.

Despite ostensibly focusing on the reconnection of father and daughter, those sections are the least credible aspect of the film. Eastwood and Adams try their best, but there is little they can do when the screenplay is a catalog of stale reflections and bland platitudes. Mickey soon resorts to rehashing her revelations from therapy with Gus, which is as awkward and labored as it sounds. And while realism is hardly requisite for a good movie, it?s hard to ignore that even if the two do reconcile, glaucoma is not curable by a smile from Adams. And while we?re on the subject of believability, am I the only one who thinks it?s odd that an 82-year-old is still working? As Gus? finds continue to fail, the big wigs suggest that Gus go into ?early retirement.? If this is early retirement, when?s late, at his centennial?

Eastwood is as good as ever, although the consistency of his appeal is compromised by a part that doesn?t quite suit his persona. Yes, he?s an old great discounted by uppity newcomers, and yes, he is a curmudgeon with a heart of gold. But playing a grouch is not the same as playing a badass, and Eastwood seems out of place in this relatively mild role. Twenty minutes into the movie, Gus visits his wife?s grave and sings her a song. While sweet, the moment is premature and heavy-handed, as if he were wearing a neon sign over his head reading ?irascible sweetheart.? Eastwood normally plays men of action, but in Trouble with the Curve he plays a man full of grumbled complaints.

The focus, therefore, falls on the romance of Johnny and Mickey, which unlike the rest of the film, is engaging and endearing. The two actors have great chemistry, bantering with ease and deftly selling the slow build of their attraction. Adams plays her part well, but spends so much time scowling and worrying that the lovable girl of Junebug and Enchanted never gets a chance to shine. Believe it or not, Justin Timberlake is the best part of the movie. With unlimited charisma, an impish character, and all the best lines (the other two are too busy quibbling to quip), he steals scenes by just showing up and flashing a mischievous grin.

Trouble with the Curve is like an afternoon of baseball: the game is a little dull, but thanks to your friends and the concession stand, you manage to enjoy yourself anyway. Who knows what any of these three actors saw in this film, but together they keep it from being a complete waste of time.

The Disc:

The Blu-ray and DVD combo pack comes with two featurettes, each running under five minutes, and neither worth watching. In the first, Timberlake and Adams talk about playing an on-screen couple in respectful, professional terms that make it clear that there was no hint of off-screen romance (as well there shouldn?t have been: both actors were happily engaged at the time of shooting).

The second feature is on director Robert Lorenz?s long tenure as part of Eastwood?s production team, first as an assistant director and then a producer, finally making his directorial debut in Trouble with the Curve. Lorentz clearly sees himself as a true filmmaker, maybe even the next big thing, but to borrow from Breaking Bad, just because he shot with Clint Eastwood doesn't make him Clint Eastwood. If this film is any indication, he has a long, long way to go.

Finally, the pack also includes a redemption code for an UltraViolet copy--the site which gives you the ability to access your movie online, as well as link the film to your Flixster account. I can see the appeal of this service for a film you wanted to rewatch or show to friends, but since this flick is probably neither of those things, using UltraViolet would probably be pretty pointless.

Distributor: Warner Home VideoStarring: Clint Eastwood, Amy Adams, Justin TimberlakeProduced by: Clint Eastwood, Robert Lorenz, Michele Weisler

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Trouble With The Curve

Trouble With The Curve, the directorial debut of Robert Lorenz, is almost the exact opposite of Bennett Miller?s Moneyball. One is a bold story about a man who identifies a broken system and tries to break through the status quo by introducing a new approach to baseball scouting using statistics, algorithms and technology. The other is about a veteran scout who outright rejects any kind of new system or ideas in favor of the aforementioned status quo. But the most important difference between the baseball dramas is that one is a compelling, well-made movie with something to say, while the other is as fresh as a twelfth inning ballpark hot dog and half as entertaining.

The problems start with the script. Written by Robert Brown, the story follows Gus (Clint Eastwood), an Atlanta Braves scout who discovers he is losing his eyesight and goes on what could possibly be his last scouting trip. Joining him is his lawyer daughter Mickey (Amy Adams), not only to make sure that he?s alright, but to also try and bond with him and get some answers to lifelong questions. It?s a too-familiar father-daughter story, but the issues run much deeper than that. The characters are all clich?s ? from Mickey being the standard workaholic, emotionally unavailable female lead to Justin Timberlake?s Johnny, a young, hot-shot, up-and-coming scout who looks to Gus as a mentor and takes a romantic interest in his daughter ? and their motivations and actions often don?t make sense (for example, Gus goes to see a doctor when he first has trouble seeing and then ignores the doctor's advice to see a specialist because he doesn't trust doctors). The antagonists ? namely the computer-centric younger scout played by Matthew Lillard and endorsement deal-obsessed player (Joe Massingill) that Gus travels to look at ? are cartoonishly douchey; the third act turn is foreshadowed to death; there are two dance sequences written within five minutes of each other?the list just keeps going.

While Adams does manage to put in a solid and honest performance, digging deep to find emotional moments for her rote character, the script, direction and editing actually makes you worry about the talented cast. There?s a scene early in the film where John Goodman, who plays Gus? pal and colleague, visits his friend?s home for a chat and the dialogue is as atonal as a middle school play. Given Eastwood?s well-known directorial habit of rarely doing more than two or three takes of any shot, it?s not hard to imagine that Lorenz, who long served as Eastwood?s first assistant director, took the same approach. Hopefully the lesson he?ll take into his next project will be to shoot a few more for safety.

The film is the first that Eastwood has acted in since 2008?s Gran Torino, and watching it you wish that he had stayed behind the scenes. Gus gives him absolutely nothing to do other than sit around looking grumpy, yell at people and complain about the younger generation and his declining health ? you know, the stereotypical grandpa. The audience is meant to take him as a troubled, sad old man, but he?s so disgruntled and mean that it?s hard to give him any sympathy. Eastwood is a true film legend and known for being such a man?s man, and nobody wants to see an icon like him as a troubled, sad, old man. He used to be The Man With No Name, Dirty Harry Callahan and Josey Wales, but now he?s having trouble urinating due to an inflamed prostate (30 seconds after the title card, no less) and awkwardly warbling ?You Are My Sunshine? to his wife?s gravestone. And as bad as that sounds reading it, it?s even worse on the big screen.

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