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In his nearly 60-year Hollywood career, Clint Eastwood has built a pretty solid reputation as a tough guy, playing cowboys, cops, and a variety of thugs. Still, when most actors reach a certain age, even the tough guys tend to transition into cuddly, comic grandpa roles. But not Clint. Now in his 80s, he’s as tough as ever—and he proves it yet again with his gritty performance as a stubborn old baseball scout in director Robert Lorenz’s baseball/family drama, Trouble with the Curve.
While the business of Major League Baseball continues to change, Eastwood’s Gus remains the same. Instead of blindly following the latest scouting software, Gus still reads the papers and goes to the games to get a feel for the players and their abilities. After several decades in the business, though, his days could be numbered. His eyesight is going, and his younger colleagues think it’s time to get rid of him. So, for Gus, his upcoming scouting trip to North Carolina is a crucial one.
Gus’s daughter, Mickey (Amy Adams), is at a crucial time in her career, too. If the young lawyer can win her latest case, she’s guaranteed to make partner. But when Gus’s boss, Pete (John Goodman), calls to voice his concerns about his old friend, Mickey decides to pack up and join her cranky old dad on the road.
Last September, Brad Pitt’s Moneyball celebrated the new business of baseball, with its facts and figures and computer software. Now, Trouble with the Curve is the exact opposite: an ode to doing things the old-fashioned way—complete with its crowd of lovably crusty old scouts who gather together in the stands with their newspapers and notebooks.
And who better to lead the pack of grumpy old men than an old-school icon like Eastwood? The beloved octogenarian is as crusty as they come, growling through his lines and tossing out one-liners the way only old guys can. While his character is definitely rough around the edges, though, Eastwood plays Gus with the slightest touch of vulnerability—just enough to make all of that anger and bitterness somehow acceptable. Sure, he’s stubborn and gruff, and he often snaps at his daughter (and anyone else who gets in his way), but you’ll understand his point of view. And instead of hating the character, you’ll end up liking him in spite of his flaws.
Adams, meanwhile, manages to hold her own—even when forced to go toe-to-toe with a legend like Eastwood. Like her celebrated co-star, she gives her character plenty of heat and just the right amount of heart. Together, then, Gus and Mickey make quite a pair: the emotionally distant dad and the emotionally scarred daughter. And while some of their conversations do eventually start to feel like lengthy family therapy sessions, the characters’ strong personalities keep the film from becoming too sappy or sentimental.
Then again, it also helps that Justin Timberlake is thrown into the mix as the eager young scout who falls head-over-heels for Mickey. Without him, the drama might have been oppressive—but he gives the film a touch of romance and plenty of light-hearted laughs.
Of course, Trouble with the Curve isn’t particularly unique or surprising. You’ve seen the story before, and you’ll see it again. But the talented cast takes the same old September sports drama and turns it into a charming story about family and baseball.
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