Longer I stand
like this, the cooler I look.
 |
|
Keanu's back,
but not as Neo in the eagerly awaited Matrix 2, but as a debt ridden
under 10's baseball coach.
Neil Heath
This is Keanu's chance to show that he can act in 'serious' films
without him using various weaponry to kill bad guys.
He does an 'OK'
job for Keanu Reeves, but someone else would be better in this role.
The plot
Reeves plays Connor O'Neill, an Irish-American ticket tout with
a gambling problem.
The film starts
with him losing a big bet, with that to contend with, he's also
got all the local hardmen - who he owes money to - trying to rearrange
his face.
 |
| Look, I
was in the Matrix. |
O'Neill looks
for a loan from a security firm to relieve his debts, but instead
is offered the chance to coach a young baseball team called the
'Kekumbas'.
So just when
you think it's a re-run of the Mighty ducks but with baseball, think
again, a tragedy puts pay to it being a sugar-coated-feel-good movie.
The review
For large parts of this movie, I thought I knew where it was going
and for that it was quite dull, predictable and tiresome.
 |
| There's
no way you were in the Matrix! |
But it actually
has a darker edge that gives it a degree of respectability.
Baseball for
the kids in the movie is the only thing they look forward to, if
they're not playing the game then they're likely to be part of the
gangs that terrorize the neighbourhood.
So what looks like being formulaic and predictable becomes dark
and rather depressing - although it does offer a slice of hope as
the movie concludes.
Like I said before, Reeves acting isn't the best, and I wonder how
much better the film would have been with a different actor in the
role.
Diane Lane who plays the local school teacher does a sound job as
the woman who catches O'Neill's eye.
The rest of
the supporting cast, the kids, are incomprehensible at first with
their street speak, in fact the only words I could make out was
the word 'bitch' - just a little over used.
As the film goes on the kids that you thought were annoying little
tike's become quite endearing - there's probably a message here.
Overall, as
sport's movies go, this has largely the same premise that has been
run over and over again, but with it's darker edge it earns some
respect.
|
