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Hardball
Paramount // PG-13 // February 19, 2002
List Price: $29.99 [Buy now and save at Amazon]
The Movie:
"Hardball" is an interesting film in the way that it's one of the few in recent months that, while I found it noticably flawed, I still found it hard not to like; it shouldn't work as well as it occasionally does. Several elements of the film are decidedly familiar, but the movie has sincere emotions and some good performances that carried my interest, if not all the way through.
Keanu Reeves plays Conor O'Neill, who, as the movie opens, seems at his lowest point. A gambling addict, there are people out to collect on what he owes and he's running out of options. Conor stops off at the office of a friend (Mike McGlone of "She's The One", playing what seems to be the cousin of that film's character) and asks for cash, but gets an offer instead - coach a little league baseball team in the city's projects and get $500 a week. Conor has no interest, but he's desperate for money and accepts the gig.
The film's main problem is that there's not a single plot twist or event that isn't able to be seen from miles away. Obviously, Conor will start to enjoy hanging out and coaching his team and become a better person. There's even a slight, but fairly pleasant romance between Conor and the kid's teacher (Diane Lane). What saves the film, at least during several moments, is that the emotions really seem genuine and, as a result - at least briefly here and there - the film is moving.
That, and the fact that the kids are good, natural actors. They'd never acted before and they don't get really well-defined characters to play here, but they are more engaging than any of the adults. Reeves is not particularly good (and occasionally embarassing), which is a suprise, given the fact that he's seemed to be getting better in recent years. His performance isn't very convincing, neither is his transformation from desperate gambler to good guy. It doesn't help that director Robbins and Mark Isham's score provide a too-heavy introduction which ends with Reeves' character beating himself up. There are several scenes where I couldn't help but remember a recent "Mad TV" episode that included a skit called "Keanu Reeves Acting School", which was an almost too-perfect imitation of the actor's dramatic attempts.
Yet, while the script isn't particularly well-written ("Summer Catch" screenwriter adapted Daniel Coyle's non-fiction book) and Robbins occasionally makes things a bit too heavy, "Hardball" occasionally works better than it should. The kids are genuinely likable; I wanted to see them win and succeed. I just wished the film would have focused more on developing their characters than the plot threads about the adults. A note: some of the scenes and language in the picture might scare younger viewers.
The DVD
VIDEO: Paramount presents "Hardball" with a particularly solid 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen edition. While not entirely flawless, I think I can fairly easily say that this is one of the more impressive transfers that the studio has done in recent months. The picture appeared smooth and crisp in all aspects; sharpness and detail remained consistent and pleasing, with no softness and occasional pleasant depth to the image.
There were a few problems with the image quality during the film, but I really didn't find them that distracting. A slight speck or two was visible on the print used, as well as a couple of instances of minimal grain. Other than that, no pixelation or edge enhancement was seen and the picture remained smooth and "film-like" in appearance.
Colors remained subdued in appearance throughout, but there are occasional scenes that provided brighter colors that appeared nicely saturated and clean. Overall, this was a really nice effort from the studio; it's not perfect, but when it looked good, it looked very good.
SOUND: "Hardball" is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1. As expected, the film does not present any particularly noteworthy sequences of enveloping or agressive audio. There's a fair amount of ambient street sounds that are presented by the surrounds during the outdoor scenes and the rap tunes and score are occasionally reinforced by the rear speakers. Other than that, the audio remains rooted in the front speakers. Audio quality remained satisfactory, as the score remained crisp, while dialogue came through clearly. I would have appreciated more detail, but this was a fine soundtrack.
MENUS: Paramount offers nicely animated main menus, using film-themed images (which look like baseball cards) combined with a piece of the score in the background.
EXTRAS:
Commentary: This is a commentary from director Brian Robbins and screenwriter John Gatins. Browsing through this commentary, I found it only to contain a fair amount of information. The two go for some considerable stretches without saying anything, but when they do actually start talking, they provide a fair amount of insight about working with Reeves and the other actors, as well as some stories about the production of certain scenes. Overall, the track provides some good stories and occasional touches of information, but there are several areas of the track that seemed rather empty.
Making Of: This is a 12-minute "making of" that generally provides a look at the story and characters. The only problem remains that we've already just watched the film and know what the story is. Some may want to fast forward about halfway through the documentary, when actual information starts to be provided. There's some interesting behind-the-scenes details provided as well as some decent interviews with the cast and crew.
Deleted Scenes: 3 deleted scenes are provided, but no commentary or explanation is provided on why they were taken out.
Also: Trailer, music video and 3 ads starring the characters.
Final Thoughts: "Hardball" treads over familiar terrain, but occasionally becomes effective due to the film's spirit and sincerity. Paramount's DVD provides exceptional video quality and good audio quality, along with a fair group of extras. Those interested might want to check the film out as a rental first; the DVD is recommended for those who are already fans, who will likely be pleased with the exceptional image quality.
"Hardball" is an interesting film in the way that it's one of the few in recent months that, while I found it noticably flawed, I still found it hard not to like; it shouldn't work as well as it occasionally does. Several elements of the film are decidedly familiar, but the movie has sincere emotions and some good performances that carried my interest, if not all the way through.
Keanu Reeves plays Conor O'Neill, who, as the movie opens, seems at his lowest point. A gambling addict, there are people out to collect on what he owes and he's running out of options. Conor stops off at the office of a friend (Mike McGlone of "She's The One", playing what seems to be the cousin of that film's character) and asks for cash, but gets an offer instead - coach a little league baseball team in the city's projects and get $500 a week. Conor has no interest, but he's desperate for money and accepts the gig.
The film's main problem is that there's not a single plot twist or event that isn't able to be seen from miles away. Obviously, Conor will start to enjoy hanging out and coaching his team and become a better person. There's even a slight, but fairly pleasant romance between Conor and the kid's teacher (Diane Lane). What saves the film, at least during several moments, is that the emotions really seem genuine and, as a result - at least briefly here and there - the film is moving.
That, and the fact that the kids are good, natural actors. They'd never acted before and they don't get really well-defined characters to play here, but they are more engaging than any of the adults. Reeves is not particularly good (and occasionally embarassing), which is a suprise, given the fact that he's seemed to be getting better in recent years. His performance isn't very convincing, neither is his transformation from desperate gambler to good guy. It doesn't help that director Robbins and Mark Isham's score provide a too-heavy introduction which ends with Reeves' character beating himself up. There are several scenes where I couldn't help but remember a recent "Mad TV" episode that included a skit called "Keanu Reeves Acting School", which was an almost too-perfect imitation of the actor's dramatic attempts.
Yet, while the script isn't particularly well-written ("Summer Catch" screenwriter adapted Daniel Coyle's non-fiction book) and Robbins occasionally makes things a bit too heavy, "Hardball" occasionally works better than it should. The kids are genuinely likable; I wanted to see them win and succeed. I just wished the film would have focused more on developing their characters than the plot threads about the adults. A note: some of the scenes and language in the picture might scare younger viewers.
The DVD
VIDEO: Paramount presents "Hardball" with a particularly solid 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen edition. While not entirely flawless, I think I can fairly easily say that this is one of the more impressive transfers that the studio has done in recent months. The picture appeared smooth and crisp in all aspects; sharpness and detail remained consistent and pleasing, with no softness and occasional pleasant depth to the image.
There were a few problems with the image quality during the film, but I really didn't find them that distracting. A slight speck or two was visible on the print used, as well as a couple of instances of minimal grain. Other than that, no pixelation or edge enhancement was seen and the picture remained smooth and "film-like" in appearance.
Colors remained subdued in appearance throughout, but there are occasional scenes that provided brighter colors that appeared nicely saturated and clean. Overall, this was a really nice effort from the studio; it's not perfect, but when it looked good, it looked very good.
SOUND: "Hardball" is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1. As expected, the film does not present any particularly noteworthy sequences of enveloping or agressive audio. There's a fair amount of ambient street sounds that are presented by the surrounds during the outdoor scenes and the rap tunes and score are occasionally reinforced by the rear speakers. Other than that, the audio remains rooted in the front speakers. Audio quality remained satisfactory, as the score remained crisp, while dialogue came through clearly. I would have appreciated more detail, but this was a fine soundtrack.
MENUS: Paramount offers nicely animated main menus, using film-themed images (which look like baseball cards) combined with a piece of the score in the background.
EXTRAS:
Commentary: This is a commentary from director Brian Robbins and screenwriter John Gatins. Browsing through this commentary, I found it only to contain a fair amount of information. The two go for some considerable stretches without saying anything, but when they do actually start talking, they provide a fair amount of insight about working with Reeves and the other actors, as well as some stories about the production of certain scenes. Overall, the track provides some good stories and occasional touches of information, but there are several areas of the track that seemed rather empty.
Making Of: This is a 12-minute "making of" that generally provides a look at the story and characters. The only problem remains that we've already just watched the film and know what the story is. Some may want to fast forward about halfway through the documentary, when actual information starts to be provided. There's some interesting behind-the-scenes details provided as well as some decent interviews with the cast and crew.
Deleted Scenes: 3 deleted scenes are provided, but no commentary or explanation is provided on why they were taken out.
Also: Trailer, music video and 3 ads starring the characters.
Final Thoughts: "Hardball" treads over familiar terrain, but occasionally becomes effective due to the film's spirit and sincerity. Paramount's DVD provides exceptional video quality and good audio quality, along with a fair group of extras. Those interested might want to check the film out as a rental first; the DVD is recommended for those who are already fans, who will likely be pleased with the exceptional image quality.
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