Film Review: TROUBLE WITH THE CURVE (2012)

Director: Robert Lorenz
Writer: Randy Brown
Running time: 111 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): 12

Genre: Drama/Sport
UK Release date: 30^th November 2012

Watched on Sky+ Sunday 15^th September 2013.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE UNINTENTIONAL SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

Now baseball is not big here in the UK, in fact, other than it’s a bit like rounders and it’s really big in North America and the Far East, I know little about it. So why watch a film about it; well, I have seen a few films centred around the sport before and I’ve always found them quite interesting, so I thought I’d give this one a go. The fact it’s also got Clint Eastwood and Amy Adams in it, two of my favourite actors, is just incidental (honestly). I will give you my thoughts after this very brief summary.

When ageing scout Gus (Clint Eastwood) discovers his sight is failing him his estranged daughter, Mickey (Amy Adams) decides to go with him on a scouting trip to help him out. Mickey has a high powered job and is up for a promotion and so this trip could not have came at a worst time for her. Gus has issues with her coming along, apart from him being fiercely independent, he still sees her as a little girl sometimes. Whilst on the trip they meet Johnny (Justin Timberlake) who is a washed-up player who it trying out as a scout for another team. Johnny and Mickey eventually hit it off but it’s her relationship with her father that is important. Will it survive this trip or have those bridges already been burned?

Well made with many baseball references that went well over my head but that didn’t matter. The film isn’t about that, it’s about relationships and as such I found it an engaging watch. Both Clint Eastwood and Amy Adams were excellent in this; I admire them both as actors and they didn’t disappoint. Justin Timberlake gets better each time I see him, I just wish he’d stop making those awful records! (It’s a joke folks). Also worthy of note were Matthew Lillard as Phillip Sanderson, Robert Patrick as Vince and John Goodman as Pete Klein. It’s not a tear-jerker or a heart rending tale but I found it did strike an emotional chord with me. If, like me, you admire Eastwood and Adams then it’s well worth a look.

SteelMonster’s verdict: RECOMMENDED

My score: 8.1/10.

IMDb Score: 6.7/10 (based on 28,479 votes when this review was written).
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087075/

MetaScore: 58/100: (Based on 40 critic reviews provided by Metacritic.com at the time of going to press).

Rotten Tomatoes ‘Tomatometer’ Score: 52/100: (based on 182 reviews counted at the time of going to press).

Rotten Tomatoes ‘Audience’ Score: 66/100: (based on 41,982 user ratings counted at the time of going to press).
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/trouble_with_the_curve/

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LINKS:
(Note: All were working at the time of going to press)
Official Site (US): http://troublewiththecurve.warnerbros.com/dvd/
Trailer: