Trouble with the Curve
Starring Clint Eastwood, Amy Adams
Directed by Robert Lorenz
From Field of Dreams to Major League, movies about Americas favourite pastime have carved a beloved niche in Hollywood over the years. An effective baseball flick needs an intelligent script coupled with memorable characters; unfortunately, Trouble with the Curve strikes out in both departments.
At 82 years old, grizzled veteran Clint Eastwood truly starts to show his age as Gus Lobel, a major league scout who is gradually losing his vision, thus damaging any future star-spotting abilities. Lobels longtime friend and boss Pete Klein (John Goodman) becomes concerned with the situation and enlists the help of Gus estranged daughter Mickey (Amy Adams) to accompany her dad on his last scouting mission.Soon enough, a former player-turned-scout named Johnny (Justin Timberlake) arrives and the predictable clichés begin.
Adams is the bright spot amongst the cast while Eastwood does his best with the material and Timberlake almost enters typecast territory as the smooth talking charmer. The main problem with the film is the writing, which pigeon-holes the actors into stock roles, thereby failing to inject any sense of freshness.
Adding insult to injury, the movies soundtrack is peppered with contemporary pop songs that force-feed any emotional impact.Trouble with the Curve has a few fleeting moments of decent dialogue and some of the comedy does work, yet these elements cant save this plodding, sometimes melodramatic mess. Heres hoping Clint still has a few decent roles left in him because it would be a shame for this clunker to cap off his career.
