Hardball (2001) User Reviews (143)

Not original, but it works

[philip_vanderveken · 7/10 · 22 June 2005]

I want to start by saying that this movie was actually a pleasant surprise. Knowing that this was a movie based on a true story, made with Keanu Reeves and a lot of kid-actors in it, I honestly feared the worst. But after watching it I must say that it really wasn't all that bad.

Sure, the story is as predictable as you can get them in Hollywood. With a desperate white guy who is forced into coaching a children's sporting team from a rough black neighborhood, you already know perfectly what to expect and of course he will only keep doing his job because of a beautiful lady at first (the kids school teacher), but in the end he will learn the true value of these kids' will to win and to make something of their lives, so they can get out of the neighborhood. No the movie never gets far away from the stereotypes. But somehow it didn't bother me all that much for once.

This is probably one of the best performances I've ever seen from Reeves (except for his roles in "The Matrix" and "The Gift") and despite the fact that this movie isn't a comedy, the dramatic story is relieved with some nice humorous touches. I don't know anything about baseball and normally I don't care about movies with baseball as the subject either, but for once I kept watching.

As a conclusion I would like to say that if you are looking for an original movie, you better start looking somewhere else, but if you want to see a drama that exceeds the average Disney boundaries, you might want to give it a try. As I already said, I was pleasantly surprised by it and that's why I give this movie a 7/10.

Not a revelation but worth seeing

[synefra · 7/10 · 9 October 2001]

I didn't really want to see Hardball, I went in with low expectations. So I was almost surprised when staring at the 'rate this movie' screen I gave it 7/10, but let me tell you why (and trust me I thought about it for a few long moments deciding what to give it and why). First the downside: the story was predictable in every way, it was almost painful for me to see children so young using such language and being abused in so many ways, but it was realistic. The high rating I gave it was because the young actors were so very talented, and while the story was obvious it still managed to make me care what happened and what was happening. I wasn't engrossed, I didn't sob like a baby, I didn't find it a revelation on life and death. However, it was very much what it purported to be, a story about showing up. And it did have an interesting message about how something, that to one person can be so insignificant, can be so profound and life-changing to others. Keanu Reeves gets a lot of bad press about being a 'bad actor' but I found him very believable and thought he did an extremely good job. He has a lot of charisma and an amazing ability to make you care about his characters, and want, in the end, the best for them.

Great kids but forget about the rom-com

[SnoopyStyle · 6/10 · 11 January 2014]

Conor O'Neill (Keanu Reeves) is a degenerate gambler and a drunk. After some bad loses, he's in trouble with his bookies and he borrows money from Jimmy on one condition. Conor needs to coach kids baseball in the projects. He finds out that he needs to field a full team, but teacher Elizabeth Wilkes (Diane Lane) is holding back a couple of the kids.

Keanu is all jittery. It's very distracting, and not very attractive. The rom-com part of the movie is a bust. The character is a giant mess. The saving grace are the kids. They are the movie. It's the Bad News Bears with better kids characters and weaker adult characters. I just wish they forget about the rom-com, and cool down the gambling drama. I wish they put more of the kids' story in the film. Although I'm very glad to not have to watch the usual final championship game.

Much better than I expected

[Theoriginaltruebrit · 8 March 2002]

Due to alot of negative reviews on this site I did not expect the movie to be as good as it was. However after watching it this evening I was delighted by the entire experience. While I agree that it goes along with the "ducks" formula it deviates from it by not showing us the final game with the final ten seconds for the team to win. It spared us that and just let us know with the final credits that the team won. I thought the performances in the movie were excellent, although even I (living here in the deep south) found the accents of the children a little difficult to comprehend. As for the overall effect of the movie it entranced me, completely, I kept having to rewind scenes to view them again and again. And, more importantly, if anyone ever doubted Keanu's ability to act then one should only view the eulogy scene to know that his critics have been simply barking up the wrong tree. Strong, emotional, sympathetic and completely believable... speaking as as part time amateur actress, do you know how hard it is to cry, and cry believably? Do you know how hard it is to make your chin tremble..? My conversion to Mel Gibson fan was watching him "cry" in Lethal Weapon... this has been my reconversion to Keanu fan..., to cry so believably in a movie is worth quids in my book and to be able to express emotion in such a way is worth any amount of praise. Wonderful movie. Go see it.

Not Awful

[gavin6942 · 6/10 · 23 December 2015]

An aimless young man (Keanu Reeves) who is scalping tickets, gambling and drinking, agrees to coach a Little League team from the Cabrini Green housing project in Chicago as a condition of getting a loan from a friend.

Keanu Reeves's performance in "Hardball" earned him a Razzie Award nomination for Worst Actor (also for "Sweet November"), but he lost the award to Tom Green for "Freddy Got Fingered". Interestingly, I see "Freddy" as a misunderstood masterpiece... and hardly think Reeves is bad in "Hardball" (whereas "Sweet November" is just a bad movie).

One could complain that this film has the "white savior" problem, with a white man saving the lives (figuratively) of an all-black team. I did not have that issue. There are some familiar plot devices, but all in all it is an enjoyable movie... one that maybe should be re-examined.

A Boring Movie

[claudio_carvalho · 6/10 · 21 September 2003]

Conor O'Neill (Keanu Reeves) is a gambler with high debts with very dangerous guys. He spends his time drinking, gambling and scalping tickets. He accepts to coach a baseball team of kids from the poor zone of Chicago to get some money, pay his debts with `The Barber' and be not killed. There he meets the school teacher Elizabeth Wilkes ( Diane Lane – it is amazing how beautiful she became again after leaving Christopher Lambert). With the contact of these kids, Conor becomes a new man. I did not like this movie. First of all, it is plot supported by baseball, a sport not practiced in Brazil and therefore totally indifferent for me. Second, the character of Keanu Reeves is corrupted and nasty. The viewer does not become sympathetic with him. I did not see he training the kids, just bored on his spot and with minor interventions when the kids struggle between them. I believe baseball has some tactics and techniques to be trained and developed. Third, most of the boys have amateurish acting, grinning when they should not have to, for example. Last but not the least, there is no message in this film other them the redemption of the character of Keanu Reeves, only after he earned a big amount in a bet and paid his debts. Indeed I found this movie a little boring. Maybe Americans and fans of baseball may appreciate this movie more than I did. My vote is six.

Movie needed to focus on the intended audience

[Paguma · 6/10 · 23 September 2002]

The makers of this movie didn't see to consider their audience. There are parts of this movie that would play well to a younger crowd and perhaps ONLY to a younger crowd. However, there were other parts that would be disturbing to a younger audience. If they would have focused on what type of movie they were trying to make they could have had a real winner. As it is, it's okay.

deserving of the 'Ship'

[danieljbarton · 7/10 · 11 May 2015]

This film moved me the first time I watched it years ago and after watching again the same aspects got me, specifically the scene with Jefferson making the trip home alone. You can critique the message, realism and accuracy with this film all you want but it takes a cold hearted person to not get emotional watching that boy scared, struggling for breath! The timing was perfect, acting from the kids was gritty and thankfully avoided coming across as 'too scripted' with great support from Keanu, I say support as for me the kids stole the show.

This film scores higher than similar titles such as 'Coach Carter' as the young actors do a great job of sucking the viewer in while you believe the down on his luck, addictive portrayal from Keanu.

If you're taking the time to read this review typed up at 2.16am then you might want to check out 'Radio' and 'Remember the Titans' for similar films.

Hope is always the better choice

[Abby-9 · 9/10 · 17 September 2001]

This is a stressful movie, with the gambling addiction and the gambling machine on one hand, and street gangs on the other. I really like the kids and think Keanu Reeves plays it straight with them. New York Times and local reviewers aside--way aside, this movie is definitely worth a look. I spent eight years on Chicago's South Side, and i'm grateful a cinema team is willing to show some emotion about some of the stuff that is part of grim daily life. The plot formula is good: i don't like cold voyeuristic slice-of-life with this material. I like that the material is used with an up-beat ending. Let us enjoy the entertainment of it, and find some hope in it. Goethe said that hope is always the better choice. And i will say it here: Keanu Reeves can act.

Keanu Reeves is an inspiring person

[happyjoey007 · 7/10 · 13 February 2020]

Keanu Reeves is the most lovable person on screen and off, he teaches us how to be a good person, work as a team or take matters into your own hands when it comes to the ones you love.

An average movie, nothing spectacular.

[doctorben · 5/10 · 22 September 2001]

Hardball is about a group of boys from the Chicago projects who play on what we must assume is the worst team in Little League. Until, of course, down and out Conor O'Neill (Keanu Reeves) is cornered into coaching the team in return for a loan from a friend to pay off his gambling debts. Elizabeth Wilkes (Diane Lane), the boys' teacher, is also along for part of the ride.

I apologize up front for the lazy synopsis I just gave but for a movie as generic and average as this I just couldn't spend the brain energy on making it anymore exciting than that. Now don't get me wrong this wasn't really a bad movie, it just wasn't a really good movie either. This movie seems to have a hard time figuring out what it is about. Is it about Conor's gambling problem and his attempts to not get killed for his bad debts? Or is it about a Little League team and a coach who learn to care for each other and rely on each other? Or is it about Conor and Elizabeth and their relationship? If you picked any of these answers you are wrong. It's about none of them. Oh it dabbles in all of them but doesn't really take any of them far enough to say it is actually about them. The movie seems to dip in and out of the different story lines without really advancing them or resolving anything. Take the boys and the little league team for example. They start of as the worst team on the league. By game two they are kicking butts and taking numbers. When did they learn all these skills. Were they just pretending to be so bad to lure the other teams into a false sense of security? We don't get to see Conor (Keanu) really doing any coaching or forming any bonds with the boys on the team, yet we are supposed to believe that these things happened. One boy finds out he can't play for the team because of his age and runs off to join a gang. What happens to him, not important apparently and Conor seems like he doesn't care either. And the gambling thing? Resolved halfway through and it just goes away. We don't see him making any of these amends, we are supposed to accept that it has happened. Plot holes galore, things not resolved, blech! Lazy writing I say. Now the story wasn't all bad, it was redeemed a little by the last 10 minutes, but it wasn't enough to pull this out of the average category.

Now lets talk a little about the actors. I like Keanu Reeves, really I do. It's just that he needs very specific roles. If you need someone to look lost and confused and not much else, Keanu is your man. I though he was perfect for The Matrix. Really though people, as much as some of you Keanu fans want to believe it, the man can't act. That's all there is to it. It's not like he's reading his lines off a queue card or anything like some 'actors' (i.e. pretty boy Justin Chambers of The Musketeer) he's just a little robotic. It's not a good show of your acting chops when you are outdone by a group of 10 year olds. I thought all the kids in this movie were pretty good, they were likable and they had me laughing (in the good way) a few times.

Overall this movie was not horrible and if you are deciding between this and The Musketeer (now there was a real crapper but you can go read my review for that and find out what I really thought), Hardball should win hands down. It's just that there are some better movies out there right now you should be putting your money down to see.

Wow.

[Darguz · 9/10 · 26 October 2003]

It never ceases to amaze me how people can have such widely differing *strong* reactions to a film. A number of negative reviews here, but let me add one more positive.

I loved this film, from beginning to end. I loved every aspect of it: the story, the acting, the plot. I expected just another "Coach takes over losing team and makes them winners" story. Those are fine stories now and then, and I was not expecting anything more than mild entertainment. But this film moved me. Now, I'm a middle-aged white boy, and while I've never been rich I've never gone hungry either, and I've never had to worry about getting shot on the way home, so maybe I don't really know what that "sh*t" is all about and maybe this film wasn't "realistic" in portraying all that; but it communicated to me, and that's what any film is all about. And sometimes in order to communicate, you have to go half way between where you are and where the other person is, and maybe that's what this film did. But whatever, I got it.

A familiar journey, nicely anchored by humor, charm and moving drama

[mattymatt4ever · 7/10 · 22 September 2001]

I'm sure we've went down this road before. Washed-up loser gets into a big mess; he/she becomes a coach of a pain-in-the-neck sports team. "Mighty Ducks" and "Sunset Park" are two movies that come to mind. Brian Robbins is obviously a big sports fan. It seems as if his career focus is to make sports films. Robbins also directed "Varsity Blues" and "Ready To Rumble." But I think "Hardball" has a much more raw atmosphere. It's set in a cruddy inner-city in Chicago.

In the tradition of "Bad News Bears" the little tykes on the team possess amazingly filthy mouths. I'm surprised this film actually earned the PG-13 rating (it was originally going to be an R). Sure, the f-word is only mentioned once, but every other curse word in the book is mentioned almost repeatedly. Some of the kids' foul language and slang is quite amusing and funny. But at times it seems redundant and strictly for shock value.

Keanu Reeves is terrific in a moderately different role. He plays a gambling-addicted ticket scalper, who can never keep himself out of trouble. The opening scene is amusing. Keanu enters a Church on a rainy night to pray that the Bulls cover the point spread. Though I always felt Keanu was a talented actor (many seem to disagree), I have to hand it to him for taking on a role that requires him to be non-glamorous, unshaven and quite grungy. And he's entirely convincing. The beautiful Diane Lane plays a Catholic school teacher, who's concerned with the students from her class doing their book reports before going out on the field. Her job is to pretty much serve as Keanu's female diversion. Geez, I wonder if he gets her at the end.

Don't expect any big surprises; this is your standard sports comedy/drama. But it's funny, entertaining, well-acted and moving. The film ends on a very depressing note, which had me crying my eyes out. And of course, it delivers a wholesome message about sportsmanship--though it's obvious that Keanu would've had a much tougher time coaching the team if those were real ghetto kids. But to every film, there has be an arc. I'll let that slide. Besides, how can you pass on the chance to see Keanu sing "Big Poppa" by Notorious B.I.G.? Talk about a chance of a lifetime!

My score: 7 (out of 10)

Watchable, but ridiculous

[revfig · 1/10 · 16 September 2001]

Warning: Contains spoilers

This movie on first look seems like "Mighty Ducks" with black kids and baseball. It seems as if the makers knew this, and shyed away from it by having all of the little kids cuss ... alot. Some of it is funny, but the rest of it is out of line.

If you're going to it to see some baseball action, then prepare to be disappointed. The team starts off sucking, like you see in the previews. They suck at the first practice. I mean, they can't hit, throw, catch, field, or do anything right. This carries on to the first game, when they lose horribly. But the second game, they get a new pitcher ... and suddenly the team is the best players ever! There's a play in "61*" on HBO that the baseball commentators hail as one of the most amazing plays they ever saw, and these kids duplicate it like its nothing. They show no reason why the team suddenly gets good, except they get a new pitcher.

Speaking of unreal baseball, they make every event more "dramatic" with pointless dives that are, at some points, five feet away! In one instance, with the bases loaded and 2 outs, one guy hits a little blooper to the first baseman... the pitcher dives horrendously, and the ball goes OVER the pitcher as he dives. To make matters even worse, the kid gets to first base, and the ball lays there in the dirt, right where the first-basemen is supposed to be ... except that there is no first-baseman! They simply forget the fact that the ball was hit right to a position, so they remedy it by eliminating the player! In a real-time situation, the first baseman would easily had caught it, and gotten the last out of the inning.

It seems like, halfway through the movie, the producers were like "Hey! We forgot a villian!". For this reason, one of the opposing coaches, for no reason at all, suddenly becomes sporadically mean. No reason at all, and he's transformed into a giant dickhead. And so, the "climax game" as you see in sports is the pre-championship game against the dickhead coach's team. Naturally they win. Then they go to the championship, show Reeve's speech... and fade out to end. As the credits roll, you see pics of the team with trophies, as if to say "In case you were wondering, they won the big game, we just didn't feel it was important to show".

One last note, one of the kids gets shot. Hey, I warned you with the spoiler. Anyways, the bullet hole in his chest is like half an inch in diameter, but the only gun ever pointed even near his direction during the scene was a shotgun! Just another example of the unreal nature of this film.

This is a feel-good film, as long as you have no concern for cinematography, continuity, unreal moves, or anti-climatic nature. 3/10.

Predictable but an A+ nonetheless. Parental slant to review-

[aklukens · 8 September 2001]

Tonight I attended a sneak preview of the movie Hardball with a 10 year old boy in tow. Hardball shows the very gritty, dangerous life of some inner city kids who are not only trying to survive, but to find some-thing worth caring about- in this case, baseball.

Though not playing to a sold out house, the audience was very loud and enthusiastic, even breaking into cheers at points. I thought the storyline was predictable (bum coach becomes a better man and gets the girl, kids learn teamwork and sportsmanship) and similar to other movies about kids sports teams. What is unique to this movie is it's view of the kids off the field- their lives in housing projects, the dangers, drugs and problems they face just living every day. It's a daring and very affecting storyline, and the cheering of the audience proved to me that it worked very, very well.

Very solid jobs by cast, including Keanu Reeves, who does a fabulous job as the shiftless/compulsive gambler/reluctant coach who becomes much more to his team after realizing these kids actually have a rougher life than his own. This role seemed as well-suited for Reeves as The Matrix...and he didn't even look good doing it. [He does clean up and flash the famous smile near the end!]

The kids steal the show here- and the audience I sat with fell for them as hard as their coach did! Lots of sniffling and clapping in the house. My son loved the movie, too, the moral themes are well wrapped up in the story and not sappy.

Some rough language, disturbing scenes of housing project life and the gambling/bookie world, some sexual references, one death. However, I would grab the kids and go if over first grade. Good opportunity to talk to the kids about winning/losing, drugs, violence and education. Best see it with your boys film since the Mighty Titans scored a touchdown. You may want to go again...

The Usual Story, Done A Bit Better

[boblipton · 6/10 · 14 July 2022]

Keanu Reeves is an aimless fellow in Detroit who makes money by scalping tickets, and blows it all with the bookies. He's twelve grand down, and needs to raise it, so he goes to his usual source, who want to know if he's burying his father again. He'll give him $500 a week to coach a ghetto little league baseball team.

It's the usual story, rendered more telling by the hardscrabble lives of the kids, and the deadening and entitled manner in which the nominally better teams make up rules to handicap their performances. There's also Diane Lane near the end of her fallow period as the object of Reeves' desire, and Michael B. Jordan in his second big-screen appearance.

"One of the most important things in life is showing up."

[AlexInChains19 · 7/10 · 4 April 2009]

This is the story about Connor O'Neal(Keanu Reeves), a guy with a big gambling debt. He makes his living by scalping tickets and then making bets. In order to pay off his debts, he goes to an old friend who works at a big broker firm. Instead of giving Connor money, he gives him a job coaching a bunch of troubled kids in a rundown Chicago neighborhood. He is very resentful and judgemental at first, but he becomes very attached to the kids. He becomes somewhat of a father figure for many of the kids since, as Kofi says, "Where I come from, don't nobody's father ever come back." Anyway, despite several tragic events, the boys go on to play in "the ship." I enjoy movies that invoke a certain emotional feeling inside one's heart. This movie definitely produces those feelings.

Has Elements of Comedy, Drama and Romance

[Uriah43 · 6/10 · 26 September 2015]

"Conor O'Neill" (Keanu Reeves) is a gambling addict who is suddenly finding himself in real financial trouble. It gets so bad that he is forced to go to a friend who works in the Chicago stock exchange and begs for $1200 in order to pay off some people it's best not to mess with. Quite unexpectedly, his friend makes him an unusual offer in which he will pay $500 a week if Conor agrees to help him coach a minor league team of black kids living in the projects. It's then that his friend decides to skip out and essentially leaves him all by himself. Although he is promised his money he realizes that in order to field a team he needs two more kids and they are being held back by a mean teacher at the school who refuses to let them play. Now rather than reveal any more of this movie I will just say that it attempted to combine several different cinematic elements into a fairly cohesive plot and succeeded to a certain extent. For example, it had elements of comedy, drama and romance but none of them seemed to overwhelm the other-at least for the most part. It also starred Diane Lane (as "Elisabeth Wilkes") who is always a welcome addition to any film. On the flip side, however, there were a couple of occasions when the acting just wasn't sufficient for the situation at hand which made the movie seem a bit uneven. Even so, I enjoyed the movie and as a result I have rated it accordingly. Slightly above average.

Familiar storyline, weak performance by Keanu

[Spanner-2 · 6/10 · 7 October 2001]

This drama has down on his luck compulsive gambler Keanu Reaves having to take over a rag tag inner city baseball team. Half inspirational inner city drama, half `Bad News Bears' remake. Though based on a true story, the terrain is familiar and Keanu seems to be sleepwalking through the assignment. GRADE: C

Kids May Gain From Seeing This Movie?

[graphixauthority · 8/10 · 29 June 2003]

When I first saw this movie, I watched it with my daughter who was 10 years old at the time. The language was kind of edgy but not too serious. I'm sure she hears worst from her friends at school (even though we try to ignore those facts). This flick had it all. From the coach struggling with his own morality, vices and (of course) romance, to the kids plagued by the daily atrocities of their neighborhood. Through these tribulations, however, we learn that "showing up" (coined from the movie) was the best way to face and overcome our problems. This applies to all of us across the board.

I read a few reviews that discouraged kids from seeing this movie and I wholeheartedly disagree. Why can we let our kids watch The Bad News Bears and The Mighty Ducks but discard a movie that gives us a taste of the reality of our inner city youth whom want to play "Hardball"? Yes they spoke more freely with there swearing than a kid from the burbs. But isn't that the point? They're not from the burbs. Yes there was a shooting scene but you didn't actually see the shot hit. But it's ok for our kids to see the Matrix where people are getting shot left and right. sheez. I hope that one day America can stop hiding the inner city from their kids and let them know how their less fortunate counterparts living (and dying). Maybe they will take less for granted and appreciate their situation more after seeing this flick. Maybe they will want to help solve some of the problems when they get older except ignoring them like their parents are doing because their parents sheltered them from the same things in the 70's & 80's. I'm not trying to sell this movie by saying it's going to change any social order or make your kid a better person. What I'm saying is... Let them watch it, talk about it and "YOU" will make your kid a better person through your dialogue and time. This movie is just to supplement your efforts.

Great re-make of "Comeback Kid"

[srmccarthy · 7/10 · 24 March 2002]

I see many people refer to "Bad News Bears", but that is well out of date concerning the real inspiration for this movie. This is an obvious re-make of the 1990 movie "The Comeback Kid". I had nothing but contempt for The Comeback Kid, as it left me high and dry, but this movie brought the true meaning and expression to life for me! Do not be fooled into believing that this is a rap infested torture that has nothing you would regard as touching, because it is far from that! It is more than a monument to the original (C.B.K.), it is an instruction! The story is about a man, overwhelmed in debt (brought about by gambling) , given a chance to change his lifestyle by making a difference to a bunch of un-wanted city children. You might not believe it when you begin watching this, but unless you are anti-sentiment, this movie will bring tears to your eyes (both of sorrow and joy)!

COMEBACK KID vs HARDBALL:

SPOILER!!!!

Although both of these movies had a tragic situation that brought about the positive outcome, Hardball won my acceptance because it explained the reason for the positive outcome! Face it, in Comeback Kid, it was never made clear why the boy was inspired to join the team of boys, but Hardball makes it very clear!

how to turn endearing into shameful 4/10

[The_Wood · 4/10 · 25 February 2002]

Hardball makes for an interesting viewing. At the beginning of the movie, it looks like it's going to live up to what it looks like: a common and uninvolved story of a white guy who is trying to teach black kids how to live better lives. You know, your stereotypical Hollywood pompous crap.

The movie has its own idea of comedy. The young kids say obscene remarks to one another, and we're suppose to think it's cute. Keanu Reeves, playing the fish out of water, makes it even funnier with his uproarious reactions to the children's manners -- oh how funny. And of course, what would an inner city tale be without different types of rap music blaring every five minutes.

As the movie gets going, it begins to surprise. We realize that these gifted young actors, are ACTUALLY -- gifted young actors. When they aren't reading stereotypical dialogue from the foolish script, they are able to create likable, in-depth characters, that are fun to watch. The film does a nice job exploring why Keanu Reeves is coaching the team -- and while Diane Lane and D.B. Sweeney are barely used -- they do help the film become something more then your typical inner city youth saga. I liked these parts, which makes the film all the more disappointing.

Unfortunately, the movie does end up going back to its shameful ways. The last 10 minutes of the film are so typical, so obvious, that you'll want to puke. Of course the movie has to kill off one of the kids -- this wouldn't be a show about black kids if they didn't. And of course the movie has to spell out that Keanu wasn't really showing the kids how to play baseball, but how to live better lives. Without his presence, one of the kids ends up joining a gang.

The film is offensive to minorities more so then any Hollywood film of recent memory. After watching Hardball, I wondered how hard it would be to make "just" a baseball movie -- instead of trying to make a film that's trying to change the world. The message of this film: All minority kids are doomed unless you can play baseball. Ignore your parents; ignore your teachers; make sure you have a white coach to save the day. This is Patch Adams teaches baseball. What a sour film.

good movie, good movie.

[thrillhouse678 · 8/10 · 16 September 2001]

this movie was good. the little kids were funny, keanu reeves was pretty cool. i also saw on the news the night before i went to go see this movie that there was some big black guy whining about the language used by the kids. he said that it was a "poor and grim representation of america's preseption of inner city children." um..im wondering if this man even HAS kids of his own, and if he does, he should hang out with them more often. the language of the kids was strong, but if u mean to tell me that the majority of kids living in the projects, or ANYWHERE ELSE for that matter, don't use that kind of language, get your head examined. anyway, this was a good movie and i enjoyed it.

Hard Knocks

[view_and_review · 7/10 · 31 January 2021]

"Hardball" is a sports movie where I was begging them to focus on the sports aspect of it.

Conor O'Neill (Keanu Reeves) was a degenerate gambler in the hole with a couple of different bookies. One bookie allowed him to make weekly payments in lieu of breaking his legs or worse. Out of desperation he went to his friend Jimmy (Michael McGlone) who was an investment banker or some such thing. Jimmy wouldn't give Conor the $12k he sought, but he brokered another deal with him: coach an inner city youth baseball team for $500/week. Beggars can't be choosers and Conor was well past begging.

I was expecting a Chicago version of The Bad News Bears. Thankfully, it was not. The kids weren't bad players, and they weren't even a bad team, but they were a mess--arguing, fighting, and cussing. Conor's job would be to get them to act and behave like a team, but it was evident that they were bringing their neighborhood pathologies to the baseball field. But at least on the baseball field their antics weren't life threatening. Once we got off the field, for the coach and the players, things got dark. Conor was on the road to certain death with his bookies, and the kids, living in southside Chicago, could've been killed at any moment.

This movie is far from Keanu's best, yet I think it was the finest acting job I've ever seen from him. I'm not saying he deserved an Oscar, but considering the very impassive performances I'm used to seeing--even in excellent movies--this was a welcome surprise. I actually saw something from him that could be defined as emotion.

"Hardball" was a hard-hitting movie as the title would suggest. Whether it was too hard and too "real" for this type of movie is debatable. There can be no doubt that kids in Chicago face what the kids in this movie faced and to pretend they don't is a disservice. But do we want to show that in a movie presumably about baseball? It was jarring, but I think it ultimately was the right decision. There are many many obstacles facing inner city children that prevent them from having a normal childhood and this movie highlighted just some of that. The movie was called "Hardball" afterall.

Not a good film

[lgoodman · 4/10 · 2 April 2004]

At first, I expected this to be another Mighty Ducks-type of movie, with heartwarming interaction between a messed-up guy and a lovable group of kids who teach him about teamwork and the love of the game. But no. In Hardball, Keanu Reeves started out grumpy, and he stayed grumpy. The kids, despite the trauma in their lives that could be pretty sympathetic, weren't lovable, and you didn't feel like you got to know them on any kind of personal level. If Keanu's character had grown, if his coaching had seemed to mean anything to the kids or if you could in any way understand Diane Lane's contention that the kids trusted him and they're never wrong, then this movie might have been okay. As it is, however the story was bad, and the weak acting only added to that to make this movie less than enjoyable.

I'm a huge baseball fan, but even so, I'd say skip this and go rent The Mighty Ducks. Or, if you want to stick to the baseball storyline and you aren't so hung up on the 'down-on-his-luck curmudgeonly coach with a team of spunky kids' plot, then Little Big League or Rookie of the Year are both fun family films with cute kids and good baseball. All of these movies are far superior to Hardball.

Four stars out of ten