Clint is old and mad about being old...but its still hard not to like him.

Rating: 7/10 (7 October 2012)

We get it Clint you can play a good crotchety old man. Luckily fr the viewers of Trouble with the Curve its the best crotchety old man in Hollywood today.
Trouble with the Curve is the story of a widowed, aging, and of course blinding baseball scout on one last run because "The man" is now nor longer using the scouts as much as they are computers putting people like Eastwood out of their jobs. Amy Adams plays the loving but distant daughter of this scout still wondering if why her father left her after her mothers passing almost 3 decades before hand, while having the loving instinct to give up her job as partner in a lawyers firm to help her father along the way of his swan song.
There isn't much here that hasn't been seen before man is extraordinary at his job blinding or not, daughter finds a love interest in a baseball player that was once scouted by Eastwoods charter now hoping to be a scout/announcer (played admirably by Justin Timberlake.), daughter secretly knows A LOT about baseball too (this is not a spoiler trust me)., and Eastwoods former darftee (still Timberlakes character) is still a friend but also a scout thats team has the pick before Clints (I know this might be a little confusing for non baseball fans..but its sort of a base ball movie.) Okay so the good is the Performances top to bottom the people that need to be subtle are subtle and those that need to be over the top are over the top. I myself grew up in a baseball family (my father worked full time for a Double A club for a long long long time) so I can assure you its accurate when it comes to scouts and their ways, its beautifully shot. It is always important that the massive grandeur of the baseball field is felt while filming in a real stadium while the homey feeling of backwoods Southern American high school baseball leauge is also right on point due to great camera work.....and finally, Clint Eastwood yea I know I said the performances already BUT Clint is in a league of his own (get what I did right there? lol puns are funny) and he still holds up on the silver screen. No this isn't as good as his performances in Gran Tarino or Dirty Harry but with age he hardly misses a step, his seems spunky and weak at the same time and its just amazing to watch a vet work. Walking the tight rope as an aging actor is a hard thing to do and sometimes we just give former stars passes for being former stars even as their acting skills diminish for whatever reason, but Clint earns respect from his performances and no pity is needed for the man. He is still A list and Trouble with the Curve shows us that.
Okay so the bad. Obvious side love story is obvious, obvious premise is obvious, and obvious outcome is obvious...but those things don't ruin movies with the story given to them the cast, director, and crew do a very good job and salvage something that could be hum drum into something worth watching...at least for Eastwood and Baseball fans.
I recommend giving it a viewing it'll probably one of the stronger wide releases until "Rush out the art projects so we can get an Oscar!" season starts in late November.