Clint Eastwood, Amy Adams, Justin Timberlake, John Goodman
Written by Robert Brown
Directed by Robert Lorenz
Formulas arise in storytelling for one simple reason: They work. The double-edged sword of following a tried and true story formula in creating a movie is that the result is almost assured of being a movie that entertains and "works" on a certain level. But, in all likelihood, the formulaic nature will make the film too predictable and by the numbers to be truly great. Such is the case with the new Clint Eastwood vehicle Trouble With The Curve.
Eastwood stars as Gus Lobell, a cantankerous old scout for the Atlanta Braves baseball team. Gus' eyesight is failing, and the Moneyball school of baseball is making owners question whether an old dinosaur like Gus should be forced to retire. For reasons that never entirely gelled for me, Gus' friend and boss, Pete (played by John Goodman) decides the best way to handle the situation is to talk Mickey (Amy Adams), Gus' semi estranged daughter, in to leaving her career as a lawyer at the worst possible time to accompany Gus on a road trip to scout a new prospect. Along the way, Gus and Mickey argue, reminisce, and learn a little about life.
Yes, the film really is as formulaic as it sounds, and no, the story doesn't really offer much more than that, other than a fairly standard romantic subplot involving Mickey and another scout, played by Justin Timberlake. However, I'm still giving Trouble With the Curve a solid recommendation, because, plain and simple, it plays. Some credit goes to the screenplay, and sometime to first time director Robert Lorenz, whose work is solid, if not exceptional. But the vast majority of the credit belongs to the cast. Eastwood may be playing the same grumpy old man we’ve seen him play with increasing regularity, but he’s still an incredibly engaging and powerful presence. And the film really rides on his chemistry with Amy Adams, who has never been more charming (and that’s saying a great deal). Adams has tackled more challenging characterizations than this one, but it’s refreshing here to see her play a character that is neither the sticky sweet good girl she played in Enchanted or Doubt, or the tough as nails role she took on in The Fighter. She proves herself just as capable in a middle of the road performance, and for me she really carried “Trouble With The Curve” even more than Eastwood did. Together they make as strong a cinematic duo as we’ve seen in quite a while. Even Timberlake managed to make a positive impression with the most genuine performance I’ve seen him give.
It’s just as well that Eastwood didn’t direct this film, because it helps a bit to separate it from comparisons to Million Dollar Baby and Gran Torino, both of which were based around similar dynamics of a grumpy Eastwood’s interaction with a plucky young daughter figure, and both of which were less formulaic and more fully realized films. Taken on its own terms, and removing the expectation of another career highlight for Eastwood, Trouble With The Curve is a charming, likable lightweight movie.
Trouble With the Curve is Rated PG-13 for profanity, sexual references and some violence.
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