See the ball, hit the ball. A common phrase heard around baseball for years. See the ball…if you see the ball your mind is clear and able to process what’s happening around you. Hit the ball…with your mind clear you’re able to make contact, get a hit, take your base. See the ball, hit the ball. Seems simple enough. Yet this is where Trouble with the Curve misses the mark as it so badly wants to hit a Home Run at the bottom of the 9th, with the bases loaded, your team down by three runs, and you’re at the plate with a full count (3 balls, 2 strikes for those not in the know). When in fact it keeps hitting a foul ball early at bat and eventually when the hit happens, there’s no coming back from the deficit your team finds itself in.

Ladies and gentleman, welcome to Trouble with the Curve. Le’ts meet our starting lineup for today’s movie review.

1. Clint Eastwood as Gus – the gruff and aging baseball scout for the Atlanta Braves organization. His eye sight is leaving him which makes it hard to scout. His gruff attitude makes it hard for anyone to want to get close to him. Baseball is his life and doing it “old school” is the only way he knows how to do his job.
2. Amy Adams as Mickey – Gus’s estranged daughter. She’s a lawyer that is close to becoming a Partner in the law firm she works for. She hasn’t had much contact with her father for nearly 30 years yet still holds a close place in her heart for him. She has no time for love as she is constantly working 24/7.
3. John Goodman as Pete Klein – the Director of Scouting for the Atlanta Braves and the one person that is still pulling for Gus as a friend and employee in this ultra-modern world we live in. With computers to do the work for a scout, is there a reason to have Gus around anymore? Pete says yes and fights for his friend.
4. Robert Patrick as Vince – the GM (General Manager) of the Atlanta Braves. Not really much else to say about Vince.
5. Matthew Lillard as Phillip – an up-and-coming scout for the organization who not only wants Pet’s job but has his sight on the GM position. He knows that computers are the way of the world. In his mind there are no reasons why Gus’s contract should be renewed in three months when it has completed. Gus to him is “old time” as he doesn’t even use a computer which is the new way to scout players. Philips brashness is the “evil” to Gus’s gruffness and is setup as the anti-Gus from the start.
6. Justin Timberlake as John Flanagan – former draft pick of the Atlanta Braves, traded to the Boston Red Sox, and now a scout for the Red Sox organization. He dreams of being a broadcaster and is working as a scout for the Red Sox organization as a stop-gap. Gus drafted Johnny years ago and has always been a father figure to him.
7. Joe Massingill as Bo Gentry – a Carolina League baseball player that both the Braves and the Red Sox are thinking of drafting to their team.  Bo’s is the egotistical young player that feels that he’s better then he really is and is buying into the hype that’s being given to him. Both teams think that Gentry has the skills to be a major league power hitter, however Gus doesn’t think so.
8. The law firm that Mickey works for – Mickey has no time for love as she dedicates herself to her work 24/7. She is working on a case that if the organization wins – she’ll be made a partner. However, after Peter visited with her and mentioned about Gus’s health, Mickey takes a brief leave of absence while continuing working on the case to be with her father. The law firm thinks that Mickey won’t be able to present to the client so they select the guy that is also going up for Partner. After he fails at the client presentation they come running back for Mickey.
9. And the rest of the scouts – there are some comic relief moments from the crew of older scouts that Gus has been with for years. They really don’t add to anything in the story and again, they’re just the comic relief.

One of the main problems is the cliched nature of the script written by Randy Brown. Trouble with the Curve just didn’t feel as if it was ready for the big leagues. The script was very paint-by-the-number in how to create a story to bring two people that had been out of each other’s lives back into each other’s lives. The dialogue had just enough of push and pull to show the anguish both Gus and Mickey are going through yet the overall story was flat. The character of John Flanagan was pointless and could have been out of the story and no one would have even known. Character growth didn’t feel natural as there are long, repetitive, sequences of not-so-subtle reminders that Gus is getting old on top of Mickey and her “work all day to succeed” attitude. By the time the last act plays out it feels like an after-thought and a way to bring everything from the back to the front and hit the slider that turned out to be a change-up.

With a run time of 1 hour and 50 minutes and rated PG-13, Trouble with the Curve will leave you wishing you’d been hit by the pitch.

Rating = 2 strikes, 0 balls (2 stars).