Trouble With the Curve
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Tagline: Whatever life throws at you.
The tagline of the new Clint Eastwood movie couldn’t be more apt. Considering that the dust has barely settled on Clint’s surreal spot at the recent Republican Convention, where he spoke to an empty chair meant to represent President Obama, here he is once again. At least he has the good grace to speak to actual actors on this occasion.
Eastwood plays Gus Lobel, one of the best scouts in baseball, but even Gus can’t disguise the most important stat of them all: his ever increasing age and how that’s hampering his ability to spot future talent. Gus clearly needs help, and somewhat reluctantly turns to his daughter Mickey (Amy Adams), who naturally is named in honor of Mantle. Soon enough, they embark upon a road trip to find out whether dad can still cut it in the big leagues for the Atlanta Braves while Mickey puts her attorney’s career on hold.
First time director Robert Lorenz has made the most of his experience producing some of Eastwood’s own directorial efforts, including Mystic River and Flags of our Fathers. He’s also signed up a host of Eastwood stalwarts, including cinematographer Tom Stern, editors Gary D. Roach and Joel Cox and production designer James J. Murakami. (Trouble with the Curve marks the first time that Eastwood is appearing in a movie directed by someone other than himself since since 1993’s In the Line of Fire).
“Lorenz works in the same clean, aesthetically conservative register as his mentor, evincing a style of restrained classicism, no-nonsense craftsmanship and subdued but quietly enveloping emotion,” writes Variety. TIME’s Richard Corliss is a fan, though he’s aware that it “observes every law of Hollywood predictability: all the good people must be vindicated, all those lacking in grace defeated.” Eastwood “has a role not dissimilar to the old crank he played to such great success in Gran Torino and provokes similar laughs with his blunt assessments and pissed-off comments,” remarks the The Hollywood Reporter. And Box Office.com concludes that, “Giving directorial control to his longtime producer Robert Lorenz proves to be an excellent idea for Eastwood who, given enough time and care, can still nail a great role. And he’s got one here.” Let’s hope for the movie’s sake that there aren’t too many empty chairs in cinemas.
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