Trouble with the Curve (2012)

Clint Eastwood is one of the best film people of my lifetime. In front of the camera, his face is universally known and he has been compared to John Wayne in terms of iconic fame. Behind the camera, he has made miracles, with modern masterpieces like Unforgiven and Million Dollar Baby. In Trouble with the Curve, he is appearing on screen for the first time since Gran Torino in 2008, and for the first time in a film he didn't direct since In the Line of Fire in 1993. His performance in this movie makes it better than it ever could have been without him. I have come to think of Eastwood as his screen persona, it has become so synonymous with the man himself. This film is no exception, and I feel the acting is more personal than it ever has been for him. There is a scene early on where Eastwood's character visits his late wife's grave, where he sings and cries. That moment should have been laughable at best, but I believed it. Bitter as it is, Eastwood doesn't play this character as a curmudgeon, but as a man, plain and simple.

The movie as a whole is fairly goofy. Eastwood plays an aging baseball scout who is also going blind. Amy Adams plays his daughter, a constantly busy lawyer type, who tags along with him to help scout a new player who is such a foul character, we know he can't possibly end up a success. Justin Timberlake co-stars as a romantic interest for Adams and as an excuse for a few random moments of unnecessary drama. I don't really like Timberlake as an actor in general, mostly because he can't seem to get past the bizarelly aware way he plays his characters. He is very unnecessary here, though not to the point of distraction, but I would have preferred the movie just be about Eastwood and Adams. Their moments together have a genuine spark that drives the movie forward, even if it's only to be slowed down again by Timberlake who is thankfully absent from the best parts of the picture. Amy Adams is a truly great actress who has yet to be given her proper dues. She is so good at playing the girly girl, that it is surprising when she becomes fiery. This role allows her to balance both and she is very much up for it. For every part of the movie soaked in ridiculous sentimentality, its stars rise to the challenge of making us care, and they generally succeed.

Trouble with the Curve is one of the most enjoyable movies of the year, even though it isn't really one of the best. It entertained me and moved me and made we want to cheer, all while reminding me that it was all a syrupy product carefully following the recipe known to please. For this reason, there are things that don't work, and the whole story is so predictable that I literally knew how everything was going to turn out, but it didn't matter. If I liked such an unoriginal movie that much, it must have done something right.

8/10