thasaint-1 I have seen Hardball probably 15 times. Every single Go**** time I weep my eyes of every single tear I have in my ducts. From the uplifting circumstances and situations these young men encounter every day in inner city Chicago(which sadly probably isn't far from the truth of real life) I can't help but feel so sad for them and how they are brought up. When Keanu gives the speech at the end and they go back to the last game with G baby, damn such a powerful scene and moment. Shows how much Sports can bring us all together despite color, age, financial status,etc. I don't know what else more to say but just watch this movie, one of my all time favs.

Evan Wessman (CinematicInceptions) Outside of the emotional ending, this movie isn't anything special, but I think it is a little underrated. On the surface, it's a sports movie and was advertised to be one, but there is actually not that much focus on the team as a baseball team. We only see about fifteen minutes of the team playing baseball in a couple of practices and maybe three games. The "ship" isn't even the climax of the movie and you don't even care that they win it, outside of that being expected by nature of the genre.Most of the story centers on Conor O'Neill, whose life is not in great shape. He's deep in debt with people who probably don't have a great source of income themselves and seems generally miserable. He takes a job coaching a U-10 baseball team and eventually warms up to the kids and by the end he appreciates their situation. The couple of scenes were we see life in the kids' neighborhood, and they seemed pretty accurate- maybe a little over done at a couple points, but you hear about gang violence in the news a lot so it's probably spot on and I just have no experience to judge it on. Basically, the story is about Conor and the team giving each other hope, and this is all but stated outright over the course of the movie, so you don't have to go hunting for the theme. There are two subplots, one involving Conor's gambling habits and the other with the kids' teacher Miss Wilkes.Conor is slightly reminiscent of Travis Bickle, though of course not as memorable, and is hardly what you'd call a model protagonist. Consequently, we have two foils for him: Miss Wilkes and Ticky. Miss Wilkes shows Conor's faults of not wanting to be as good a person as he can. Ticky represents Conor's former life of unsuccessful gambling and makes Conor's choice to break away from gambling a little more concrete. A couple of the players are examined more deeply to the extent that you'll probably know about half the players by name and have picked out a favorite by the end. There are a few minor antagonists in the guy from Smith and Stevens, the people Conor owes for his blown bets, and one of the opposing coaches coupled with the league administrators.The acting is pretty good for the most part, even from the ten kids. As expected, Keanu Reeves and Diane Lane give the best performances, but certainly not their best showings. The script is well paced and feels realistic, which is all it needs to be. There's nothing special in terms of directing outside of G-Baby's funeral at the end, which was really well done and is probably the most emotional scene in any movie I've watched.It's a very different role for Keanu Reeves, so don't expect him to have any action-hero moments like in the Matrix. There might be a few things that annoy you like the players trash talking each other or Miss Wilkes being shown as sort of a perfect character. Outside of that it should be mildly entertaining for any given viewer, so keep it on until you get bored with it. Overall Rating: 7.8/10

Python Hyena Hardball (2001): Dir: Brian Robbins / Cast: Keanu Reeves, Diane Lane, D.B. Sweeney, John Hawkes, Michael B. Jordan: 80, 000, 000th sports baseball movie about the hardened lives kids endure. It stars Keanu Reeves as a drunken gambler thrust into coaching an urban kids baseball team by a friend who will pay him $500 a week to do so. He figures that the money will pay off debts but he never factored in the behavior. This all leads to a happy ending for all save for the audience. Director Brian Robbins is responsible for Varsity Blues, as well as such crap as Good Burger and Ready to Rumble. He lets the material get away on him like a bunch of kids at an amusement park. It has no originality and characters say lines like, "I'm blown away by your ability to show up." I am blown away by his ability to say that with a straight face. Reeves makes little impression playing a role that has been done fifty times over. Diane Lane is basically a romantic prop for when Reeves has a free moment. Are we to be surprised when these two hook up? D.B. Sweeney plays Reeves's crime pal, although being in this film is perhaps his biggest crime. This is the kind of film that you line up and bat baseballs at just to see if one can smash a dent in it. It is one of the worst sports films ever made. Arguably about inner city kids seeking opportunity but the formula has been done so many times that it hits too many foul balls. Score: 1 / 10

buehrleironman This movie is great, but I have a question, Denzel Washington is clearly in this movie, why is he not listed in the credits? so yeah they say i did not print enough lines, so i guess i will spend the rest of this comment pretending as if i'm actually writing about this great movie, which i do recommend people go watch b/c it rules...yeah so this is a great movie i just don't know why Denzel Washington isn't listed in the credits if he's in it...maybe someone can help me out here...wow they make you type a lot just to submit a review don't they? wow they REALLY make sure you type all ten lines don't they? I don't really understand why you have to type a lot of information if you think a movie is great you don't have to describe the entire movie in detail...wow this has been the most typing ever just to ask a question...they should have a box where you can just ask users questions about movies and TV shows, that would have helped me doing this right here...