In general, I find sports movies to be boring. It’s not because I don’t like sports, but mostly because the stories that go with them are empty. “Touble With The Curve” may be an exception to my distaste.
I was never a huge Clint Eastwood fan. I know he’s one of the best, but I never really found a movie of his that I just fell in love with. Eastwood as the seemingly washed up Atlanta Braves scout, Gus, and Amy Adams as his estranged daughter, Mickey, were an interesting match that turned out very well. I was worried that Eastwood’s character would overshadow Adams, but they really carried this movie together and all of their scenes were great to watch. Justin Timberlake was just kind of like the side show. He appeared as the comic relief every now and then but still seemed to be playing a variation of himself (see “Friends with Benefits” and “The Social Network”). The scenes between Timberlake and Adams seemed awkward and I found myself not really caring what happened with their relationship in the end. They also just looked a little awkward together. The rest of the roles were relatively small in comparison to those two and a half, but John Goodman and Matthew Lillard also did a great job with what they were given. Eastwood’s son also makes a quick appearance!
There were some definite turns in the plot, but nothing too unpredictable. The movie was slow to get moving at the beginning but it allowed for character traits to become well established for the audience. The tone of the movie was set right off the bat (pun intended) and maintained very well throughout. There are a few awkward attempts at baseball talk which is actually unnecessary to understand until the end. The ending was also perfect however cliché it may have been. I think people who liked “The Blind Side” would enjoy this movie. There’s a strange flashback that Eastwood’s character continually has that eventually gets explained, but doesn’t make any sense until then.
Overall I give this movie 8 out of 10. I really enjoyed it and really related to the movie being based in the Southeast with the Atlanta Braves being singled out since I’m from Atlanta and have always been a Braves fan (and Chipper Jones fan for that matter). A great baseball movie with a great story!
Allison
Derrick decided on what we would watch this week. I think he got tired of the girls always deciding on what movie we were going to watch (typical guy) (little did he know there was a love story in this one). He picked “Trouble with the Curve”. I once again had never heard of it, but it has a wonderful cast including Clint Eastwood, Amy Adams and Justin Timberlake.
Just hearing the title of the movie I thought “oh another baseball movie” maybe similar to “The Rookie”. It actually was centered around baseball but not in the normal it’s all about the game kind of thing. This movie followed the intimate details of a father daughter relationship that had gone south. It also had a little love story in it which I thoroughly enjoyed (I mean who doesn’t love a little JT action). Gus (Clint Eastwood) is the main character he is a scout for the Atlanta Braves. Mickey (Amy Adams) is his daughter and Johnny (Justin Timberlake) is a former recruit of Gus now turned scout. The story unfolds of when Gus’s health takes a turn. He has one last player to scout and his daughter decides to follow along with him. I did learn some insights of scouting which I never even had thought of before. I’m glad that there wasn’t much actual baseball in the movie because I’m not really a baseball fan.
Overall, I thought this movie was fantastic from the sad daddy daughter scenes to the funny one liners from my man JT it was great! The story was captivating and the characters were well played. I would recommend this movie to everyone. I give it a 7 out 10!
-Kelsy
This week I was the chosen one to pick the movie, and all I had to say was “finally!” I wanted a change for this week’s movie so I picked “Trouble with the Curve.” I knew it was going to be different, especially with Clint Eastwood taking the main role. The plot was based on baseball and scouting for the major leagues but really wasn’t all about the sport of baseball.
When this movie hit theaters it was talked about a lot and well-advertised, especially having Clint Eastwood, Amy Adams and Justin Timberlake in the same movie. I personally love Clint Eastwood movies and this type of movie reminded me of his character in Gran Torino. In both characters’ he has this sarcastic, dry humor and that is what I love about him. This movie is about an Atlanta Braves scout, Gus (Clint Eastwood), whose health is deteriorating, but goes out to scout their second pick in the draft. The young guys in the front office think he is too old to be of any help to their organization. Mickey (Amy Adams), Gus’ daughter decides to meet her dad in North Carolina where he is scouting, to make sure he is fine and to check up on him. Gus and Mickey’s relationship are distant, which she tries to constantly change but Gus doesn’t want anything of it. When Gus runs into Johnny (Justin Timberlake), a former scout pitcher, a slow relationship grows between him and Mickey. His character portrays that funny friends that can make anyone laugh and make the person feel better. At first he was the friend that just kept popping up everywhere and it was a little awkward. But in the end, somewhat of a cliché ending happens, and I did not have a problem with it.
The movie really wasn’t about the game of baseball. If you are someone that really doesn’t care for baseball, like my friend Kelsy, you could still enjoy this movie. I know I thoroughly enjoyed it. I never would have thought a movie with two clashing personalities of JT and Clint Eastwood would have made for a good movie, but I was wrong. The movie was a 10 for me and I’d see it again, maybe just because Amy Adams is in it! Haha.
– Derrick
KAD Movie Reviews 