Excellent feel-good movie

Rating: 7/10 (19 January 2013)

Despite announcing his retirement from acting some years back after appearing in "Gran Torino", Clint Eastwood is at it again. This time around he plays Gus, an aging baseball scout for the Atlanta Braves who is concealing the fact that he is starting to lose his eyesight. Nonetheless he gets himself assigned to select their first-draft pick before (perhaps) being shunted into retirement by a younger generation who trust computers more than experience, knowledge, and intuition. Knowing that Gus is in trouble, his best friend (John Goodman) persuades his estranged daughter Mickey (Amy Adams) to go on the road with him to North Carolina to help out. Mickey is a fanatic about baseball because it was her only way to connect with him during her childhood when he seemingly all but abandoned her after her mother died. The film then depicts how Gus and Mickey awkwardly try to rebuild what looks like an irreparably broken relationship.
The plot has enough twists and turns to hold the viewer's attention and subtly highlights the central theme of how rewarding, complex, and difficult real human relationships can be. All the principals are in top form, including Justin Timberlake as a former draft of Gus' who is shooting for a job as a sports announcer, but Amy Adams is especially good- she delivers a perfectly tuned and moving performance. The strong supporting cast are excellent also.
All in all this is a gently funny, unpretentious, and well-acted human drama with a big beautiful heart.