Trouble With The Curve (2012)

Gus Lobel (Clint Eastwood) is a legendary baseball scout, who works for the Atlanta Braves. But Gus’ vision problems and old school mentality might cost him his job. Tom Silver (Matthew Lillard) is the slimy kiss-ass, and he works on the same scout team with Gus. Tom sees an easy opportunity to get rid of Gus, and move up the corporate ladder, but Gus’ long time friend and superior, Pete (John Goodman) comes up with a plan to save Gus’ job.

In an attempt to provide some much needed company and assist him in his scouting duties, Pete urges Gus’ busy daughter, Mickey (Amy Adams) to join him on a scouting trip to North Carolina. Reluctant at first, Mickey eventually agrees to join Gus on the scouting trip, but some old emotional wounds from a troubled childhood could ruin a happy bonding experience. Along the way, Gus and Mickey run into Johnny (Justin Timberlake), a pitcher, who was forced into a scout job for the Red Sox after a career-ending injury. Gus and Johnny share a trusted friendship, and Johnny slowly develops feelings for Mickey.

The rocky relationship between Mickey and Gus becomes more of a problem as the days go by. Plus, Gus’ opinion could have an influence over Johnny, as both men scout a potential number one draft pick (Braves have the #2 pick, Red Sox have #1) named Bo Gentry, a young powerhouse slugger.

Clint Eastwood delivers another entertaining perfromance as the angry codger, and Amy Adams provides the strongest performance from the supporting cast. Although, next to Clint Eastwood, Adams receives the most screen time, and the increased exposure gives her a boost here. Lillard and Goodman could’ve gained the upper hand for the better performances in this film, but Lillard’s character doesn’t receive a significant amount of screen time until the very end, and you’ll only see Goodman every now and then.

But Justin Timberlake doesn’t deserve any credit for the acting. Timberlake can’t act, and as usual, a more talented cast carries him throughout this film. I’ve seen it in other Timberlake films (Amanda Seyfried from In Time, Cameron Diaz in Bad Teacher, Jesse Eisneberg and Andrew Garfield in The Social Network, etc.), and I still can’t believe he’s coasting off of his fame for being a singer and the popular guy in N Sync.

Trouble With The Curve will give sports fans an inside-look at the inner workings of an MLB team, but the fantastic chemistry between Amy Adams and Clint Eastwood is the driving force behind this film. The inside info stuff for MLB isn’t that special, because I’ve seen in it other sports films, and if you want to know more, you can always turn on MLB network or ESPN. And more importantly, other sports films (i.e. Moneyball) provided a more thorough and in-depth inside-look for the business side of pro sports.

Trouble With The Curve is an average and formulaic Hollywood sports drama. This film is full of predictable mushy moments, but I really enjoyed the duo of Adams and Eastwood, and without them, Trouble With The Curve could’ve been a lot worse.

Final Rating: 5/10