Dated melodrama, yet 'Let's play ball'

Rating: Null/10 (12 October 2014)

The structure of the movie, an amalgam of a little mystery and misdirection at the beginning withing the trappings of a true-to- life sports drama, might throw off some viewers, but worked for me, gradually over the movie's runtime.
In fact, that's perhaps one of the things that did not seem dated, in terms of narrative at least (again, gradually stretching over the movie's substantial runtime). I confess to getting restive with the flashback cuts in the beginning, which, in hindsight, was essential, and perhaps the perfect way to introduce everything.
The choice made about how the filmed ending differed from the book its based on, to me, smacked of being one of those choices a mainstream filmmaker typically makes, a feel-good cop-out. I'm sure the movie would have withstood the passage of time better if they had stuck to the tone of the book, but for those who're unfamiliar with the written work, this should work just fine.
Kim Basinger plays the moll as she knows how, and though her character's trajectory is unsurprising on the whole, casting did matter, and perhaps the overall effect is better for that.
Robert Duvall, almost always great in his everyman-playing career, in this flick, has to have played the most despicable character (not surprising, since it hits close to the scruples held by a true-to- life media-person) in his career ever as Max Mercy (observe his drawings in a key sequence, and his own rationale of his place of power in the baseball-playing world, completely undeterred when another key character wants to tear down what he does - he Never Backs Down, in spite of us hating him, not 1 inch), along with an uncredited Darren McGavin (Mike Hammer from late-50s TV - mroe on him in a bit).
I've never been a fan of Glenn Close, but respect her talent, and in this one, she does what she needs to, although her portion lends itself to some muted melodrama that gains some traction as her portion increases its relevance to the overall plot.
The best part is the one performed by the uncredited Mike Hammer himself, McGavin. A veteran of TV and the silver screen, the entire movie is elevated due to what he brings to the filmed work, and the 1 scene in which he and Redford's character trade-off one-upmanships is a treat to behold (and the other scenes in which they play off one another). One of the more menacing antagonists, always lurking in the shadows, and more powerful in the dark.
Wilford Brimley due his thing, and it's always a nice thing to watch him in play. The raggedy old bear who we slowly grow to like, with his tough exterior also softening over the course of the movie's running-time is perhaps one of the oldest clichÃ©s in the book, but not such a bad thing with a master like Brimley bringing him to life.
Redford doesn't have to stretch much like a few of the other roles he'd tackled in his past, but he puts in his efforts, and they do bear fruit - doesn't get a note wrong.
All in all, in spite of most of the material being dated, and the cop-out of an ending, this one's still a better-than-good watch - we'd do even better to watch it with like-minded aficionados on the big screen, given the opportunity.