Hardball: Review By moviegeek

Hardball is so ordinary that when the later parts of the movie play, it feels like two different movies: one so dull and uninteresting its hard to believe it was necessary to make a movie out of, and another so sincere and vulnerable you wonder why the whole movie wasn't this good!

Keanu Reeves plays Conor O'Neill. He is in debt up to his neck from gambling, bets, and ill-fated deals. In desperation to get out of the ditch, he goes to a friend who sets him up on a financial deal to coach a struggling little league team. This entirely African-American squad of boys are foulmouthed and raw, and Conor is just as vile in return.

Wait, what? No, no. I meant he is an inspiring role model to them all and teaches them how to be gentlemen. Nope. This is a strange movie. It works backwards from other sports movie, but uses the same formula. Its a very confusing theory I've been toying with. As the plot moves forward in normal sports movie fashion, the characters move in a weird spin-cycle of emotion.

Now, as I mentioned earlier, Hardball felt like two movies. It runs 106 minutes. The first 70 minutes is one movie. The last 36 are another.

The first 70: This is a wretched abysmal setup! I was already formulating the wonderful trash I could write about this movie. Let me start with the acting, or whatever it was. Keanu Reeves (in this portion) is AWFUL. I have never seen a screen actor be so awful in a film. He constantly throws his arms out awkwardly to make up for the lack of expression in his voice. And the kids are no better.

Also, the plot is ridiculously everywhere. Coach O'Neill is in charge of a bunch of ragtag players (to whom in the whole movie he never gives any baseball-related advice) who have tough lives in their neighborhoods, not to mention personal problems like asthma or age. Conor also has to try and impress the homeroom teacher of these kids (Diane Lane), whilst also trying to pay off his debts at the job by selling expired basketball tickets and betting on games. And then there is also the baseball too.

Oh I hated this movie!! Then...

The last 36: Coach O'Neill does something completely out of character. He takes them to a Cubs game. Right at that moment, when the kids enter the stadium for the very first time, the movie changed. It became a glorious, sincere, inspiring, and, most importantly, fresh movie.

Firstly, the kids have emotion! Reeves begins to have emotion and loses his weird detachment he had at the beginning. And there is another element I will not spoil for you that really give this movie a heart.

Secondly, there are some directorial choices here in editing that really work well. One is the choice to end a scene in an odd place and then place it in later in the movie. Another is the choice to cut the final payoff from the picture and instead just show the result. Both of these are fantastic choices!! It shows that at the end, the movie isn't just about the sport, or about the big game, or the trophy. It's about your heart and the reasons for playing.

The last part of this movie is so good that I sat, stunned, all the way through the credits. It moved me. It was heartbreaking. It was uplifting. It was real.

Hardball has a very good movie that is nearly buried entirely by a wretched one. The mess of the movie at the beginning doesn't really get a good payoff or a sound resolution by the end. Instead the movie just completely shifts gears from the movie powered by situation and conflict to the movie powered by characters and heart.

I could very nearly recommend this movie, but the ratio of good to bad just doesn't level out. This review has been very long, but this movie gave me a lot of thought.