Trouble with the Curve (2012)

Genre: Drama

Directed by: Robert Lorenz

Starring: Clint Eastwood, Amy Adams, Justin Timberlake, John Goodman

Running time: 111 minutes

Gus Lobel is an aging scout for the Atlanta Braves baseball team. Less and less trusted by his boss, he is sent on a last scouting mission to prove his worth. Problem is, he is slowly going blind. Worried for Gus, his colleague and friend Pete calls upon the old man’s daughter, a lawyer on the rise, to accompany her father on this trip. In spite of their strained relationship, she accepts.

For many years now, Clint Eastwood has been giving us variations on the same character with his movie roles: The disgruntled and broken aging man who has to rely on his instincts to compensate his diminishing physical abilities. The thing is, Clint does it so well, I don’t really mind. Once again, in Trouble with the Curve, he gave the viewers a character we could root for, a man we could identify with on a certain level.

Amy Adams was also very good as the talented daughter who has to come to terms with her past and fix her relationship with her father, the only parent she has left. As for Justin Timberlake, as much as I dislike him as a singer, he is solid as an actor and comedian. It is always a treat also to see the great John Goodman at work, no matter the role.

Trouble with the Curve, while a tad predictable, still offers a very good lesson about the power of experience. The story is compelling and is carried along by a very talented cast. I thoroughly enjoyed this one.

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