Hardball dvd movie.|
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List Price: $9.98 Our Price: $9.98 Features • Closed-captioned • Color • Dolby • DVD-Video • Subtitled • Widescreen • NTSC In Theaters : 2001 DVD Release : 19 February, 2002 |
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Hardball description Keanu Reeves stars in this story that might best be described as Bad News Bears in the projects. Conor O'Neill (Reeves) is a charming ne'er-do-well with a disturbing gambling addiction. His penchant for betting on the wrong teams leaves him owing several thousand dollars to very violent people, and he ends up coaching a children's baseball team to pay off his debt. The movie skimps a bit on process: the kids start out as terrible players and become better but we don't see how; Conor starts caring but we don't see why. As by-the-numbers movies go, though, it isn't a bad one. The young actors in the cast are talented and understated. Most of the kids' characters are only barely fleshed out by the script, but this keeps the movie from being hijacked by extra-cute mugging. Parents should be cautioned--this movie has some very violent scenes that will frighten young children, and swearing is depicted as precocious and adorable. Still, like a baseball game, it isn't a bad way to spend your time. --Ali Davis |
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| ♥♥♥♥♥ | Too many storylines and not enough time |
| "Hardball" is another of many movies about which I have to say, "I wanted to like it more than I did;" still, it's worth watching at least once. Other reviewers have covered the fact that there is a bit too much cursing in the movie at times, especially by the kids in the movie, and this is one reason why it won't get many repeated viewings or more than a three-star recommendation from me.
Beyond the cursing issue, however, lie some other problems. This movie tries too hard to follow too many formulas: 1) Man coaches underdogs to championship; 2) Man meets woman, loses woman, regains woman; 3) Man turns over a new leaf and finds redemption (of sorts); and 4) Life in the ghetto is hard (and often short). It's difficult to pull together so many divergent story lines in 1 hour and 46 minutes of film time, and "Hardball" leaves you with some blanks that you wish had been filled in. Far too much time is spent on showing us how low Keanu Reeves' character has sunk. The viewer understands that he is down and out and desperate after the first few minutes, so more time could have been spent on the coaching or romantic storylines. The kids on the baseball team, in spite of the fact that their cursing isn't as adorable as the filmmakers apparently thought it was, are the best thing about this movie, and the viewer can't help but root for their team to become winners. The problem is that we don't get to see how this happens. In spite of the facts that they are horrible in their first game and that Reeves doesn't seem to know the first thing about coaching baseball, they go on an improbable championship run. As I said, more time could have been better spent showing the interactions and growing relationship between Reeves and the kids. We also don't see much of the relationship between Reeves' and Diane Lane's characters. They are antagonists at first, and their first date' (if you could call it that) certainly doesn't bring them closer together. Yet, by the end of the film, they appear to have grown quite close. Again, the viewer just has to accept that this has happened since it is not shown. By the end of the film, Reeves' character has a changed attitude and approach to life, and he truly cares about coaching the kids. The shooting toward the end of the film hammers home the life in the ghetto is tough' theme and definitely stirs up the emotions of the viewer. The final outcome of the championship game is predictable and clichA d, but it couldn't have ended any other way after the shooting and it does leave the viewer feeling somewhat fulfilled (in spite of all the gaps contained in the film). |
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