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Was hoping this would continue the trend of incredible films at the twilight of Clint Eastwood's career. Sadly, it's a streak breaker. The entire film is completely generic and predictable drama, hitting all the genre conventions and Hays Code Era filmmaking like a checklist. Estranged father & daughter making up through a lifetime of misunderstanding. Daughter finding her true calling all along was in the business of baseball, including it being explicitly stated at one point leaving little space for nuance. Amusing one liners. Token romantic subplot with goofy likeable blue collar guy. Caricatureishly evil antagonists who all get their comeuppance in the end, including Arrogant Caucasian Jock getting bested by Humble Low Key Minority he treated like poo poo earlier in the film. Checks across the board. The very existence of the love interest feels incredibly forced. While Timberlake does well with his role, the film felt like it would have been just as strong (or average in this case) if it was solely about Eastwood and Amy Adam's characters. His entire purpose is to be the hamfisted love interest and eye candy for the female portion of the audience. Shirtless swimming scene included. The entire flick was basically Sweet Home Alabama with a baseball backdrop and Clint Eastwood's character inserted as the grumpy old man. In fact the acting is the film's sole saving grace. Eastwood & Adams take Creative Writing 101 material and run with it. Timberlake and the smaller bit characters are spot on with their comedic timing. And their performances carry a mediocre plot & script to watchability. 2.5/5 stars Ragnarok the Red fucked around with this message at Sep 24, 2012 around 05:18 |
| # ? Sep 24, 2012 05:09 |
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| # ? May 24, 2013 15:19 |
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I thought it was a pretty heart warming movie for a 5 dollar matinee. Predictable and generic? Sure. But, it did jerk my heart in a couple scenes especially near the ending where the daughter watches the Hispanic pitching to his younger brother 3/5
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| # ? Sep 25, 2012 20:42 |
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