My Review: Trouble with the Curve (8/10)

¨Anybody who uses computers doesn't know a damn thing about this game.¨

Trouble with the Curve is this year`s response to Moneyball claiming that the experience of scouts can`t be replaced by a bunch of computer programs and numbers. It is kind of the opposite of what happened in last year`s movie starring Brad Pitt, but in my opinion both films worked really well. I believe that a balance must be found in both systems and that there is no right or wrong way to approach this. Moneyball explored the baseball concepts a little deeper; Trouble with the Curve on the other hand focuses more on the father and daughter relationship. I am not a big baseball fan, but I enjoyed these movies quite a bit because they had a lot of heart. This film might be predictable, but it`s hard not to fall for the sentimentality it brings along and the broken relationships it tries to restore. This is Robert Lorenz`s first film as a director, but he has had a lot of experience working with Clint Eastwood as his assistant in most of his movies. Lorenz uses some of the same techniques and trademarks of Eastwood in this film so it is kind of like if you were watching one of his movies. The screenplay was written by Randy Brown, and the film stars Clint Eastwood (it has been a long time since he has acted in a movie that he didn’t direct). Eastwood`s last film as an actor was Gran Torino, and he has a sort of similar role in this movie playing his usual old grumpy self again. Trouble with the Curve is a good film, but not as great as some other Eastwood films (Gran Torino and Million Dollar Baby).

Gus (Clint Eastwood) is a baseball scout for the Atlanta Braves. He has had a long and successful career with the club, but some of the managers think he`s getting too old and his contract is about to expire in three months. Phillip (Matthew Lillard) one of the General Manager`s assistant is a firm believer in the numbers that his computer program gives him, but the other assistant, Pete (John Goodman), is a friend of Gus`s and defends him. Gus has a talent for scouting good players; the problem he´s facing now is that his eyes are failing him. Despite the problem, he tries to hide it from everybody and continue to go on as if nothing is wrong. His wife passed away years ago and he had to raise his daughter Mickey on his own. Mickey (Amy Adams) is now in her 30`s and is becoming a successful lawyer, but her relationship with her father has always been distant. Pete figures out that something is wrong with Gus and asks Mickey to accompany her father on what could be his last scouting assignment to North Carolina. Gus has to scout a promising player there named Bo (Joe Massingill) in case the Red Sox, who have the first round pick, pass on him. The scout from the Red Sox happens to be Johnny (Justin Timberlake), a former player who was scouted by Gus himself. Johnny ends up falling for Mickey during their stay in North Carolina, although there are several other issues she wants to resolve with her father first.

The performances in this film didn’t blow my mind, but the story does have a lot of heart. It`s hard not to fall for the characters in this story and despite the fact that the film is very predictable and formulaic it was still a very satisfying experience for me. Amy Adams and Clint Eastwood shared some touching scenes together. Eastwood seems to always explore this father-daughter distant relationship in most of his movies. You don’t need to be a baseball fan to enjoy this movie because it deals more with these relationships than with the game itself. Justin Timberlake and Amy Adams share some scenes together as well adding a little romance to the story. Trouble with the Curve has a little bit of everything: sports, romance, and drama so it is one of those rare films that the entire family will enjoy.

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My Review: The Descendants (7/10)

¨Goodbye, Elizabeth. Goodbye, my love, my friend, my pain, my joy. Goodbye. Goodbye. Goodbye.¨

The Descendants is a good film, but I was expecting much more from this dramedy written and directed by Alexander Payne, the man who brought us About Schmidt and Sideways. I was a huge fan of Sideways, and it had been over seven years since Payne directed another movie so I was highly anticipating this one staring George Clooney. Clooney is a great actor and this role seemed perfect for him. After hearing so much buzz from critics and the Academy about this picture, director, and performance from Clooney, my expectations grew even higher. Perhaps it was this overhype that left me a sensation of incompleteness after finishing watching The Descendants. The story was funny, but the characters weren’t as interesting as most of Payne`s characters were in other movies, and Clooney was great in the lead role, but far from being Oscar worthy in my opinion since I`ve seen far more better performances from other actors this year. Clooney is a natural and he made his performance actually seem real natural, but I thought relatively unknown Shailene Woodley stole several scenes from him. It`s hard not to like someone like Clooney with his charm and charisma, but I don’t think that`s enough to honor him with another Oscar. He did have one strong scene when he was giving his final farewell speech to his dying wife so don’t get me wrong, I did like his performance, I just expected so much more and perhaps those expectations affected my overall perception of the movie. I guess The Descendants actually had me at Payne, Clooney, and Hawaii. It was not as good as I expected, but it was still a lot of fun.

George Clooney plays a wealthy land owner from Hawaii named Matt King. His descendants used to be sort of rulers of a big island in Hawaii and therefore he and his family owned most of the land. They are receiving millionairy offers from several businessmen who want to buy the land and build beautiful resorts or shopping malls. Matt however has decided to make a living as a lawyer and spends most of his time in his office. Clooney tells us all this in voice over as he narrates how his wife had a boating accident and has been lying in a coma for the past three weeks. Meanwhile, he has no idea how to raise his nine year old daughter, Scottie (Amara Miller), who has been causing all sorts of trouble in school and at home. Matt decides it`s time to go bring his seventeen year old daughter, Alexandra (Shailene Woodley), back from boarding school to help him out with Scottie. Alexandra had a big fight with her mother before the boating accident and is kind of in a rebellious stage, but decides to help out her father after realizing that her mom is not going to get better. Alexandra reveals to Matt that the reason she was fighting with her mom was because she was having an affair with another man, who they later find out to be a real estate businessman named Brian (Matthew Lillard). Alexandra and Matt decide they should find a way to confront him and so they travel to another Hawaiian island where Brian is located. Alexandra brings along one of her friends named Sid (Nick Krause) who practically follows them around everywhere not helping out much, although Matt does seek for their advice most of the time.

Payne`s film does work solidly as a decent drama with sufficient comedy to lighten up the dark subject matter of the movie. The characters are interesting, although some of the secondary characters are pretty much one dimensional. It`s still interesting to see how Clooney`s character really doesn’t know what he`s doing most of the time. He is lost, and looks for his daughter`s advice quite often. Most of the comedy comes from Payne`s script which is funny as usual, although the cast also help out a lot. I guess since I`m from South America I`m used to seeing a lot of films dealing with society and family dramas since pretty much every Latin film deals with these subject matters, so it wasn’t something new for me. Hollywood on the other hand isn’t really known for creating these quality dramas so I can see how some of the critics were blown away by this film. But if you consider other foreign films, like this year`s Iranian drama A Separation, then you will notice the difference. What Payne does best however is add some comedy into the mix and it always works well for him, although this time I thought it wasn’t up to par with his previous film Sideways. The Descendants is a good movie, with some strong performances, but I`d rather watch his previous films before watching this again. The one good thing going for this movie is the beautiful scenery set in Hawaii. I recommend this film, but just don’t go into it as hyped as I was because you could be disappointed.

 

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