Keanu Reeves latest flick Hardball doesnt involve his character asking, What is the Matrix? or pulling off any back-flips. But it does make his character question whats important in life.
The thought of watching Keanu Reeves in a drama made me groan - not that I didn't dig him in the Matrix - but there are some roles ya don't want to see certain actors take on. Lucky for me, Keanu did a good job in Hardball and I wasn't groaning throughout the movie. I actually kinda enjoyed it.
The story was really predictable but I still thought it was good, and I enjoyed the characters. Keanu Reeves plays Conor O'Neill, an underachiever who's just getting by in life. He's unemployed and owes money from some sports bets gone wrong, so he reluctantly accepts an offer to coach a boys
Conor is the most unlikely guy you could pick for a coach - right down to the leather jacket he wears to practices. It's funny to see him with a group of black kids cuz he's a square white guy, who doesn't get all their hip-hop lingo. He doesn't turn into a rapping homie by the end of the movie but he catches on to the lingo really fast.
At first, coaching seems more like a punishment but after a while, he realizes what his coaching means to the boys, and he connects with them. The kids come from one of the toughest parts of Chicago and look to baseball as an escape and to Coach Conor as a role model.
Conor never expected he would learn so much from coaching a team of young boys but they open his eyes to what's really important. Sure, it sounds sappy but it was a decent movie. Hardball has heart, some funny moments and Keanu doesn't go all Bill-and-Ted's on us. I'm not gonna tell ya to rush out and see this movie on the big screen, but I would recommend you rent the movie. It wasn't a strike out and it's worth the cost of a rental.
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