By now, everyone knows who Clint Eastwood is, the place he holds as an actor (and director) in the history of cinema, and the ability he possesses to imbue spirit and personality into all the characters he has portrayed throughout his career. He transforms each new film into a nod to his past, allowing us to see in them, an evolution of the myth itself, from his beginnings to his old age, all connected by an inherent coherence filled with meaning (even in the Spanish dubbing), capable of merging all his characters into one, and one that people would refer to as Harry the Blond.
In “Trouble with the Curve,” a Noble Actor Embiggens the Smallest Film
With “Trouble with the Curve” (2012), his followers (and cinema lovers in general) once again have the fortune to see him on screen, after making us believe he was retiring as an actor after “Gran Torino” (2008), a film with a twilight spirit which has a certain relation to this new movie. It marks Robert Lorenz’s directorial debut, who was known until now for being the assistant director and executive producer in a significant part of Eastwood’s filmography.
The major difference between “Gran Torino” and “Trouble with the Curve” is that the former transcends the simplicity of its plot with a perfect resolution, enhancing the actor’s legend and leaving a mark in the cinematic memory, while in this film, Eastwood, playing virtually the same character, is relegated to a secondary role in favor of a simple and typical romantic comedy starring Amy Adams (The Master, On the Road) and Justin Timberlake (In Time, The Social Network) – both apt, with the first of the three contributing drama and necessary consistency – through their presence and trenchant lines, full of humor and sharpness, which transforms a film that would be pure conventionality without them, and probably wouldn’t even have made it to our movie screens (especially considering its focus on baseball).
What remains, then, at the end of it all, is the pleasure of seeing two greats like Clint Eastwood and John Goodman together on screen, allowing themselves to be carried by a proper product, whose greatest value lies in the personality of its main character, in certain dialogues full of grace, and in a small tribute that will enchant all their fans.
I watched, reviewed and rated Trouble with the Curve on Monday Nov 19, 2012
(Madrid, 1987) Novelist by vocation, SEO specialist by profession. Music lover, cinephile and reading lover, but in “amateur” mode.