Hardball: Critic Reviews

The movie is so littered with cliches of genre, as well as cliches of artifice in Reeves' pained performance, that any semblance of social reality goes foul.

Does surprisingly few lurches as it walks the tightrope between urban realism ... and family entertainment.

There's no cork inside Hardball, but there's more than enough corn.

A misshapen mess which relies on shameless manipulation and cute casting to cover its lack of a plot and phony emotions.

There's nothing wrong with a good cry, or a good cliche, and Hardball offers both by the barrel.

This is a film designed not so much to tell a coherent and moving story as it is to deliver a van full of cinematic groceries to a certain audience.

A smarmy proposition passing itself off as family fun in the style of The Bad News Bears.

A surefire heart-tugger made with skill and judgment.

Had Paramount played more team ball, they coulda been a contender

This umpire calls Hardball out at first base.

This is less a hardball than a softball, without any curves or surprises.

Esforcando-se ao maximo para arrancar lagrimas do espectador, o filme apela para todas as convencoes estabelecidas por producoes semelhantes, falhando em todas as tentativas.

...Hardball is much darker and far more adult than the commercials and trailer want you to believe.

Home runs for all the young actors with Reeves stuck at second base.

The Hollywood adaptation admirably avoids the urge to sanitize the material -- this isn't Mighty Ducks in the Hood.

...a formulaic feel-good kind of film with cute kids and Keanu Reeves appeal. I wanted to like it more, but felt rather frustrated by its predictable storyline

It's exactly the sort of raw, powerhouse filmmaking you'd expect from director Brian Robbins, whose previous works include "Ready to Rumble," "Varsity Blues" and that gripping expose of the fast-food world, "Good Burger."

one of those irritatingly "well-intentioned" movies that constantly falls flat because it offers no depth

The toughness, tragedy and street slang built into it give it an aura of reality.

Does what it's supposed to do, and it occasionally goes a little farther than it needs to.

Simple, predictable, and marginally satisfying.

What is striking about Brian Robbins' forceful direction of Hardball is its unwillingness to compromise

An enjoyable movie about the how some of us learn when we least expect it

Amounts to a two-hour torture session that would make one long for the great beyond.

Can easily be an inspirational, feel good movie if you let it--as long as you abandon any hope for originality.