Trouble with boredom! One tidy ending short of being stinker.

Rating: 3/10 (4 December 2012)

I have nothing against Clint Eastwood. No, let's rephrase that slightly. In Squissland, Clint Eastwood rocks! I need only present Unforgiven as evidence and there's a huge canon of fine work to back that up.
Certainly he's acted in the odd turkey (Space Cowboys, anyone?) and even directed the odd embarrassment (stand up and be counted, Firefox), but generally speaking, Eastwood has been a perfectly respectable actor, a far superior director, has a fine taste in music and, his politics and my ineligibility to vote aside, I'd put my cross against his name for US President any day of the week except if he was up against Martin Sheen. Or maybe Morgan Freeman. Or Well, you know what I mean.
Trouble with the Curve, however, is not a film of which he should feel terribly proud. It's the first time he has acted in a film that he didn't also direct since 1993's In the Line of Fire (for Wolfgang Peterson) and, if nothing else, he should have learnt one important lesson from the experience: Don't do it again! For the first forty-five minutes, director Robert Lorenz clearly used the cardboard cutout of Clint from Million Dollar Baby; it snarls in the same manner, it moves the same way and it's even wearing the same T-shirt, just without depth, quality or conviction. It isn't remotely convincing and it's a huge relief when the real Mr. Eastwood finally arrives. It isn't a startling performance, in fact it's just a variation of the turns he gave in the afore mentioned boxing flick and Gran Torino, but then he is in his eighties and it must tire him out.
And on that subject, Mickey (Amy Adams) is his daughter? Really??? Apparently so. Gus is a senior baseball scout who is losing his patience as quickly as his eyesight, and his contract is about to follow suit if the young(er) pretender to his throne, Phillip (Mathew Lillard) has anything to do with it. Gus' virtually estranged daughter, Mickey, is a successful lawyer who is about to make partner. They don't like each other very much. Or rather, in good Hollywood schmaltz style, they do but they like to think they don't. Gus is sent off on another trip to prove his worth, his manager and friend, Pete (John Goodman) persuades Mickey to go along and help him out. At a crucial time in her career and at a critical time for the firm, Mickey agrees. Her decision is inexplicable other than that without it, there would be no film. Everybody loses. Except for Johnny (Justin Timberlake), a newbie scout, who falls for her. Predictably.
Why is it one tidy ending short of being a stinker? Deep sigh.
Well, Trouble with the Curve is too long, too obvious, takes far too long to establish itself, is poorly acted for the first act and is convoluted and depressingly trite.
And if that isn't enough, Mickey enters her father's house in the middle of the mother of all rain storms, and even comments on it, but has nary a hair stuck to her face nor a drop of precipitation on her skin or clothes.
And they dance in front of an admiring, encouraging busker.
And an entire crowd in a bar whoops and applauds a retort from Johnny in true, cheesy Roxanne style, despite them having clearly ignored the entire conversation prior to his comment.
And then there's the horrible sequence that jars completely and makes no sense until one reads the credits. To wit: Mother, son and daughter arrive in a bar in the background. Camera cuts to close up of them.
Daughter: "I wish Dad was here." Mother: "I know, Honey." It adds nothing to the film, is irrelevant to the action in the foreground and serves only to give a blatant cameo to the wife and children of director Lorenz! On the upside, it appears screenwriter Randy Brown provided a checklist of emotions to work through and we know the characters will be recognizable because they've been photocopied from countless other poor films.
You've been warned but don't let me stop you. Go ahead, make my day.
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