Trouble With The Curve

When Clint Eastwood is involved in a movie, you can expect it to be nothing short of intense. And first time director Robert Lorenz should not have been a stranger to this fact. Lorenz has assisted Eastwood in several of his movies – Million Dollar Baby and Mystic River to name a couple. So it would have come as no surprise to see Eastwood, all over his movie at the end of the day – not just as an actor but also as a director – Trouble With The Curve seems to be directed more by Eastwood than Lorenz. And I speculate that it is not because Lorenz is Eastwood’s protégé.

Bo Gentry (Joe Massingill) is a teenager who is THE most talked about baseball player in recent times. He has been hitting the right notes with the press and the big home runs in the college leagues. Rumours are that he is going to be the first pick in the upcoming draft for the Red Sox. But the people at Atlanta Braves believe that they have a chance of pipping them.

The Braves’ best scout, and arguably one of the best in the business, is Gus Lobel (Eastwood). Gus is not the most popular of all scouts in recent times because of his crabby behavior – people get senile and crabby beyond 60 is what I have heard. As if that were not enough of a worry for him, technology is taking the game into the computer and scouts are no longer the “in thing”.

Complicating it further is Gus’s rapidly deteriorating eyesight. Thank goodness for this daughter Mickey (Amy Adams) – named after the inimitable Mickey Mantle – still is concerned about his well being albeit reluctantly. So when Pete Klien (John Goodman) who is Gus’ boss, asks Mickey to accompany Gus on his latest road trip, she is caught in two minds. The first one that asks her to stay back and work harder than she has for the past 7 years so that she makes partner. The other that tells her to join her dad on the road; for what its worth, he is her father.

The movie carefully peels the layers on a complex relationship between father and daughter. It adds the nuances of how traditional scouts went about their lives and their roles in identifying the best of the best. It builds a case for that age old adage – you cannot sit in air conditioned cabins and decide who is a better player. No substitute for being right where the action is.

What works further for TWTC is the strong star cast. Eastwood, Adams and Goodman are as always superb. And there is this young man who I have firmly believed is a far better actor than a singer. He answers to the call of Justin Timberlake. Now why would Justin sing when he can act so well. I see a few nominations here – Screenplay, maybe movie, all 4 acting nominations. Will it win any? Not sure. What I am sure of though is that you should not miss it. 7.5 on 10.

Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2083383/