If you are going to see "Trouble with the Curve," see it for the acting

Rating: 6/10 (1 October 2012)

I'll probably never grow tired of Clint Eastwood's presence in the movies. Whether he's standing in front of or behind the camera (or both), this 82-year-old master has produced some of the most indelibly entertaining performances and films in recent memory. So, as you can imagine, when I heard a year ago that Mr. Eastwood was coming out of acting retirement after a brisk three years to star in "Trouble of the Curve," I was ecstatic. He's not directing the film this time around, but he is taking the lead role, and we get him all his veteran-cloaked glory.
If his character had not been gunned down at the end of "Gran Torino," one would assume this were a sequel to that film. For Mr. Eastwood is essentially playing the exact same character: a gruff, widowed, profanity-spitting old man with an extreme reluctance to come to terms with his age. At one point in the movie he answers the phone saying "Who the (expletive) is calling me at this time of night?!" He's even tripping over furniture in his house, swearing up a storm later, just as he did in "Gran Torino." This time, however, he's in Georgia, and still working as a talent scout for the Major Leagues. If only glaucoma and a shorter attention span were not coercing some younger folk into pushing him out of the picture. He's got it worse than Henry Fonda did in "On Golden Pond." And just like Henry Fonda in "On Golden Pond," Mr. Eastwood has an estranged daughter who now makes a last-ditch effort to find common ground with her father.
It is a shame that "Trouble with the Curve," despite all that it has going for it, is most of the time an underwhelming movie. The cast is tremendous. Amy Adams plays the feisty daughter with a hidden love for baseball, and the supporting cast is populated by talents such as John Goodman, Ed Lauter, and Bob Gunton. So there's a number of interesting people working with this winner of a premise.
I do not want to drag the movie through the mud too much, as it is a first time directing and screen writing job by two different people. The director, Robert Lorenz, has produced some of Mr. Eastwood's films, but never handled the creative input behind the camera until now. And, according to my research, screenwriter Randy Brown has never worked in Hollywood before. This is a first-stab effort from both of these men, and their efforts are visible. Mr. Lorenz has a subtle style admittedly in need of more experience, but very promising. And Mr. Brown shows that he has imagination and can dream up some witty dialogue. Unfortunately, their lack of experience still shows through all of the gleams like rocks in a swimming pool. One of the reasons why the movie never fulfills its emotional goals is because both the director and screenwriter chop of scenes at the ankles before they can get along. The build-up is fine, but just when a sequence starts to near its pinnacle, it comes to an abrupt halt. One of the key subplots of the whole movie (it explains why Mr. Eastwood has distanced himself from Miss Adams) is explained through clumsily staged flashbacks that pop up at the most random order. And the big secret revealed near the end is not so shocking to make it seem worth the long wait.
The scenes between Mr. Eastwood and Miss Adams come the closest to working. Both give excellent performances. Mr. Eastwood repeats the grouchy-old-man motif very well, and Miss Adams convincingly bounds back with a lot of feisty, free-standing reactions. Very often, it's more her movie than Mr. Eastwood's. Unfortunately, there is also a very drippy love story that is attached. It is the least interesting element in the movie and yet is given so much attention by the screenplay. Miss Adams's love interest is played by Justin Timberlake, an actor I have very seldom been impressed by. His performance is not particularly good, as he fails to produce any sense of charisma or warmth. After all, Miss Adams's character is supposed to be a career-minded woman who has wandered away from relationships over a 35-year lifetime, so we would expect somebody exceptional to finally capture her heart. Somehow, I'm not convinced an obnoxious jibber-jabberer who can quiz her about baseball stats would really be the one to do it. So perhaps Mr. Timberlake is not due too much blame; the character is simply not interesting. Whenever manipulative piano music played while the movie-couple shared a two-shot (or went skinny dipping, go figure!) none of my heartstrings were tugged, as I did not care whether or not these two got together at the end.
And unfortunately, "Trouble with the Curve" does not know the right way to end. The movie wants to show some insight into what goes into Major League talent scouting (the computer programs, the executive decisions, the sudden try-outs, etcetera) but the way the movie chooses to wrap itself up is utter cornball; a twist that comes completely out of nowhereor left field, if you will. Granted, the twist is hinted at a couple of times earlier in the movie, but the screenplay does not give these two or three moments enough of an impact to make the resolution effective.
If you are going to see "Trouble with the Curve," see it for the acting. As for the rest of the movie, while it did not satisfy me, it is not insufferable. It is not a remotely bad movie; it just did not mean a whole heck of a lot to me when it was over. Unfortunately, Clint Eastwood, Amy Adams, and the game of baseball were not enough to win me over.