Too Hard on Hardball (2001)
Growing up, my mother always said that a good movie is one that “stirs the emotions”. In terms of mostly narrative aspects only, I agree with this emotional-based criteria when I grade films. I believe that a filmmaker has done his/her job well if they simply cause viewers to feel something; whether that feeling be happiness, sadness, laughter, fear, and so on. That being said, I believe a great film is one that truly moves an audience. Great films have the power to “stir the emotions” and keep those emotions resonating long after watching. Therefore, Brian Robbins’ Hardball (2001) constitutes a great film.
Loosely based on a true story in the south side of Chicago, Hardball follows Conor O’Neill (Keanu Reeves); a degenerate gambler at an all-time low who drowns his losses in booze and self-pity. When he finds himself dangerously indebted to multiple bookkeepers, he agrees to coach a little league baseball team made up of underprivileged inner-city kids in return for payment he will use to clear his gambling debts. Much to his surprise, O’Neill begins to develop a worthwhile connection to the kids, whose strong will and “ability to show up” ultimately serve as a beacon of moral enlightenment for the coach.
Widely disliked both critically and by audiences, Hardball currently holds a weak forty percent approval rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes. Additionally, the film has a score of forty-eight from Metacritic. The poor reviews of the film tend to contain similar complaints about the screenplay as well as the performance by Keanu Reeves. After giving a mocking summary of the plot, Peter Travers of Rolling Stone claims, “…the film takes a true story and drags it through a swamp of hyped-up Hollywood clichés”. If that’s not enough, Roger Ebert says, “the screenplay shows signs of having been tilted in the direction of the basic Hollywood workshop story in which we get a crisis because it’s time for one. And Keanu Reeves seems subdued in the role — so glum and distant, we wonder why we should care if he doesn’t”. I disagree.
In contrary to popular belief, I see Hardball as a film that successfully utilizes these so-called “Hollywood clichés” in unique form. While Travers mockingly compares the film to The Bad News Bears and Ebert calls the film “inauthentic”, I believe there have been few films like Hardball. Yes, a coming-of-age sports movie about underdogs putting away their differences and working together toward a common goal of success is a repetitive story we see come out of Hollywood. However, we rarely see one that successfully blends accurate details of the sport, characters that carry both moral and cultural significance, and a powerfully touching story altogether. A particular scene that stands out in the film occurs when O’Neill takes the kids to see the Chicago Cubs play. When they arrive to the stadium, Sammy Sosa waves to them while he’s on-deck then proceeds to hit a homerun. One by one, their faces light up about as bright as the lights at Wrigley Field. They had never been to a game before. A scene of this emotional caliber is rarely executed effectively in the genre and exemplifies the genuine writing evident throughout the screenplay.
The narrative also captures a delicate setting that is very real and very disheartening. Currently nonexistent, the Cabrini Green housing projects were one of the many poor housing communities in Chicago’s south side that were notoriously riddled with gang violence. Hardball accurately depicts this setting and, as a result, offers us a chance to empathize with those who are born into the misfortunes of extreme poverty and gang violence. While many films have touched on these topics before, very few have done so with a narrative arc that sheds a light into the impact a positive influence can have on underprivileged children.
While I agree Keanu Reeves is not the most talented actor in Hollywood, he doesn’t do anything to hurt this film. In fact, he gives an impressive emotional monologue following the very tragic climactic scene. To say Reeves’s performance ruins the film entirely or the narrative lacks authenticity is very disappointing. As a kid who not only played baseball throughout my childhood, but grew up twenty minutes from Chicago, I might carry a little bias in my admiration for Hardball. But even still, when I re-watch some of the scenes, specifically the very tragic climax of the film, I experience emotions that continue to resonate. One day I hope critics and audiences alike might change their opinions.
