Smartorhypo Highly Overrated But Still Good

Console best movie i've ever seen.

Tayloriona Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Usamah Harvey The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Paul J. Nemecek Hardball is a well-intentioned, tender-hearted film that gets lost in clichés, stereotypes, and bad writing. Keanu Reeves plays Coner O'Neal, a heavy-drinking compulsive gambler who is clearly down on his luck. When he asks a stockbroker-friend to loan him some money, his friend instead offers him a job-coaching Little League ball players for $500 a week. The catch is that this particular Little League team is made up of residents from Cabrini-Green, Chicago's most notorious public housing project.So, we end up with the white mentor meets black street kid cliché (Finding Forrester). The basic plot line of the film is the standard sports film cliché. For me, almost all sports films are variations of Rocky. For example, Hoosiers is "rural Rockies play basketball". The Mighty Ducks could be subtitled "little Rockies play hockey". Even Cool Runnings is "Jamaican Rockies go bob-sledding". The closest parallel is probably Bad News Bears, but Mighty Ducks is a close second.As is the case in many of these films, the basic formula is loser coach coaches loser athletes and they all become winners in the end. A common subplot occurs when the down-and-out coach loses faith in himself, but is propped up by the love of a good woman ("Yo' Adrian"). As I have stated before formula can be okay, if you create richly drawn characters and interesting contexts with unusual plot twists that keep us in suspense. Alas, Hardball had none of this.This is essentially a formula film with poorly developed characters, few innovations, and flat interpersonal relationships throughout the film. If you are interested in the film because you like sports films, see any of the other films listed above on video instead. Major League II even looks good by comparison. If your primary interest is in the lives of low-income minorities in the inner city check out the documentary Hoop Dreams, Menace II Society, Boyz in the Hood, or Clockers. If the interracial mentoring is what appeals, Finding Forrester is a much better choice. If you were interested in this film because you are a Keanu Reeves fan, see your therapist or wait for Matrix II.To be fair, there was one moment at the end of the film that was poignant, well-acted, and moving. This is a clear case of too little too late though. The film ended by swinging for the fences, but in the final analysis Hardball went down swinging.

jandmga Ihave watched this movie many times and I am always amazed at the story and the acting ability of Keanu Reeves. This movie shows the desperation and gritty side of living in the projects. This story could take place in any city with projects. It is heart warming tin showing the ability to show up no matter your circumstances. Keanu plays a lost person with no purpose in life but gambling and drinking. When he starts coaching a kids baseball team to help pay off his gambling debts, he transforms into loving the kids and finds a purpose in life. Keanu acting is marvelous. Love this movie. Worth watching over and over. Keanu is a special and great actor. Love his movies.

b_oakley Why is everyone so technical? Of course the movie isn't perfect, we don't need that regurgitated in every negative review. I'll read the goofs for that. As a whole, I thought the movie was pretty good. It's has some realistic aspects to it. Yeah, it was a lot of cursing from the kids, but society made that rule. Many ppl are fine with children using profanity. It's just simply words WE pronounced as "bad." SMH I'm sure half your children curse like sailors out of your presence. Lol I'm just saying, just with anything else, it's all about perspective. Morals will differ, so no need to bash it bc your morals differ from the director's. I'm not saying you don't have the right to dislike the movie, but damn. We don't need reviews about how badly it was filmed, if you have NO idea how to film it better. Good day. :)

buehrleironman This movie is great, but I have a question, Denzel Washington is clearly in this movie, why is he not listed in the credits? so yeah they say i did not print enough lines, so i guess i will spend the rest of this comment pretending as if i'm actually writing about this great movie, which i do recommend people go watch b/c it rules...yeah so this is a great movie i just don't know why Denzel Washington isn't listed in the credits if he's in it...maybe someone can help me out here...wow they make you type a lot just to submit a review don't they? wow they REALLY make sure you type all ten lines don't they? I don't really understand why you have to type a lot of information if you think a movie is great you don't have to describe the entire movie in detail...wow this has been the most typing ever just to ask a question...they should have a box where you can just ask users questions about movies and TV shows, that would have helped me doing this right here...