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Hardball
is the name of the new Keanu Reeves movie and right away its got
two strikes against it, no pun intended. First strike, it stars
Keanu. He is always a wild card in a movie. Under Sam Raimi in The
Gift, he was very good, but on the other hand, in Sweet
November, he made me cringe. You never know what kind of
Keanu you're going to get. The second strike is the supporting
players are 10 year-old's. Child characters are written horribly
most of the time. I didn't want the standard characters; the
smart-asses or punks. Those are the things that I knew right
away could cause some problems.
I
should count the director (Brian Robbins) for another strike
against the movie, but Varsity Blues was okay in my book.
Although, let's not forget Ready
To Rumble; he still owes me $5 for that one. All this is
just to point out that this movie had possibilities, being based
on an uplifting and inspirational book, but the people who made
it were more than likely going to screw it up. Did they? Yeah,
they did.
Hardball
is about a gambling man who ends up owing various people around
$12,000. One of them is actually called 'The Barber'. I'm
serious. Anyway, he asks a friend for money and they offer to
pay him to coach a baseball team. He reluctantly accepts. The
rest I'll let you see for yourself.
I actually thought that I was going to like it for about
a half hour of the movie. Keanu did an OK job. He was kind of
sleepwalking throughout to be honest, but at least he isn't to
blame for the movie's main problems. The kids I liked. I ended
up wanting more of the kids and less of the gambling stuff.
Diane Lane plays the kids' teacher and supposed love interest
for Keanu. She is completely wasted. The chemistry between her
and Keanu is nil.
If
the script had focused more on the baseball team, it would have
at least been a fun piece; perfect for a matinee. Instead, we
get gambling and bookies. I never got to know most of the kids
on the team except the little one and the pitcher. I will give
credit where it is due and say you gotta love the scene in which
Keanu sings to Notorious B.I.G. We all know the kids are going
to get to the championship game and they do, but the script
tosses in an obstacle first that I knew was going to happen
sooner or later. The way the final game is shown destroys any
sense of joy or anticipation. We see the outcome and then how
the game was played. That was a big problem for me.
Hardball
wasn't the worst movie I’ve seen. If you see it, try not to
pay more than $5 for it. I thought I was going to hate it, but I
didn't. The director and the screenwriter definitely did mess up
what could have been better. All in all, the movie was okay for
what it is.
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