"Hardball"
Conor O'Neill (Keanu Reeves) is a gambling addict in way over his head to the local bookies, owing them thousands. His best friend from childhood, Jimmy Fleming (Mike McGlone), has bailed his buddy out of such fixes many times before, but this time is just too much. Instead of just giving Conor the cash, Jimmy makes a deal - $500 a week for 10 weeks. The only catch is, O'Neill has to coach an inner city Little League baseball team in "Hardball."
The screenplay, by John Gatins, is based on the book by Daniel Coyle, an account of the author's own experience as a youth baseball coach in Chicago's notorious Cabrini-Green project. Director Brian Robbins brings the story back to the Windy City as it follows loser Conor hitting the bottom of his own personal barrel. He owes not just one, but two bookies big time, and his immediate future has visions of broken bones. Desperate, Conor tries to hit up Jimmy, a hot shot at a big time investment firm, only to sell his soul for $5000 and the agreement to coach the Kekambas, the ball team that Fleming's company sponsors. And, Conor will only get paid after each week of coaching the team.
The reluctant Conor meets the team for the first time and they are a mixed collection of kids, all shapes, sizes and ages and all with a desire to play ball. Little G-baby (DeWayne Warren), the smallest of the lot, is both team mascot and most dedicated player, despite his diminutive size. Miles (A. Delon Ellis, Jr.) is the team's star pitcher, but only if he can jive to "Big Poppa" on his headphones when on the mound. Jefferson (Julian Griffith) is a 'big-boned' boy with an asthma condition. Kofi (Michael Perkins) is possibly the Kekambas's best player. Andre (Bryan Hearne) is tough kid who needs the anchor of his team far more than he realizes, with Jamal (Michael B. Jordan) his best friend. Ray Ray (Brian Reed), Alex (Alexander Telles), Sterling (Sterling Elijah Brim) and Clarence (Christopher Loften) make up the rest of the team. I mention each of the kids by name for a reason. It is one of the best casting of a large bunch of young actors and they, uniformly, act the part of members of a team. My favorite is the charismatic little kid playing G-baby.
This is a movie, in concept, like many inspirational sports team flicks we've seen - "The Bad News Bears," "The Mighty Ducks," "Mystery, Alaska" and a myriad of others come to mind, of course. The difference lay in a subtle undercurrent of social commentary that "Hardball" conveys. Sure it's a rags to riches team tale as the Kekambas start out as a motley collection of kids and, over the weeks working with Conor and each other, become a worthy adversary for the opposition. There are also things said about the matriarchal nature of inner city life, where the father figure does not come to play in the equation of raising a child. Unfortunately, this aspect of the film is underplayed for the sake of the inspirational team story.
The screenplay tries to cover too much ground in its moderate run time. Besides the main yarn about the boys, there is also the fall and rise of gambler Conor, a budding romance between him and the kids' dedicate school teacher, Elizabeth Wilkes (Diane Lane), the aforementioned social commentary, ghetto violence, personal tragedy, triumph and redemption. To the makers' credit, the sentimentality does not get schmarmy, especially after the film's dramatic, sudden climax. Things never really get beneath the surface, either, as Robbins touches upon each social and personal subject but not giving time to explore each or, even, some fully.
Keanu Reeves as a low life gambling, and possibly booze, addict who has hit rock bottom doesn't quite cut it. He lacks the edge that someone out of control and desperate at their plight would have, but is likable as Conor, anyway. Diane Lane is under-utilized as the dedicated teacher and potential love interest, with both parts given short shrift in the story. John Hawkes is credible as O'Neill's sidekick Ticky Tobin. Mike McGlone made an affable debut in Edward Burn's "The Brothers McMullen" but is given virtually nothing to do here. D.B. Sweeney is the obligatory tight ass manager of the other top team, the Bua Was. Home run hitter Sammy Sosa makes an appearance as himself
"Hardball" isn't all it could be but its heart is definitely in the right place. There is a good, inspirational sports movie buried in here that provides good role models and a degree of thoughtfulness for kids. Be aware that there is graphic language and gang violence. I give it a C+.
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