Movie Review - "Trouble with the Curve"

Baseball is widely called America's favorite past time, and watching movies may be a close second. It's no surprise than that so many fantastic films about baseball have been made over the years. In 2012, director Robert Lorenz brought yet another tale from the dugout to the big screen with the movie - "Trouble with the Curve."

Clint Eastwood plays Gus Lobel, a well known and long time baseball scout for the Atlanta Braves. In his twilight years, many in the Braves organization feel that Gus is best suited for retirement when his contract expires in a few months. His long time friend Pete (John Goodman) doesn't share their own sentiments and decides to send Gus to scout a hot shot high school baseball player, Bo Gentry, that could be their first round pick in the upcoming draft. When Pete visits Gus at his home, he can tell that something is right with his old friend and decides to contact his daughter Mickey (Amy Adams) to assist her father on his scouting trip. The truth is that Gus' eye sight is beginning to deteriorate and he knows if the Braves were to learn this they'll feel he'll be unable to scout anymore.

Gus and Mickey soon find themselves dealing with their rocky relationship and Gus' health issues all while they try to determine if Bo Gentry is the next biggest star of baseball. Along the way they meet Johnny (Justin Timberlake) who was once a promising young ball player that was scouted by Gus. Due to a career ending injury, Johnny now scouts for a rival team but hopes that by scouting a new young star he can soon be calling games from the broadcasting booth. The ups and downs along the way and a strong cast all help bring "Trouble with the Curve" together and make for a very enjoyable film.

"Trouble with the Curve" is not only an engaging film about the game of baseball but it's an, at times, emotional story between an aging Father and his daughter. Clint Eastwood gives a strong performance as usual and Amy Adams continues to show that she deserves to be mentioned as one of today's best actresses in film. Without giving anything away, I couldn't think of a better way for this movie to conclude and I'd recommend this film to all - baseball fan or not. Click here for the trailer for "Trouble with the Curve" and be sure to add this movie to your "must see list" if it wasn't there already.