DRAMA; 1hr 51min
STARRING: Clint Eastwood, Amy Adams, Justin Timberlake
Step up to the plate: Adams and Eastwood
“Good scouts are the heart of the game,” grizzled baseball scout Gus Lobel insists in a trademark pronouncement, and as one of the all-time greats, he should know. The problem is Gus’s eyesight is going and pushy up-and-comers are nipping at his luddite heels. Gus is a widower, and he and his over-achieving, 33-year-old attorney daughter, Mickey (as in Mantle), are mutually defensive. She cares for the neglectful old coot all the same, dammit, so agrees to hit the scouting trail with him to save his tail, even as her own careerist rear end is under threat.
Director Robert Lorenz doesn’t have a world beater to work with, material-wise, but a gruff and feisty Eastwood is a gift at any age, with Adams trading him barb for barb and Timberlake upping the user-friendly romance ante. The three of them in winning form and knowing exactly how their innings will play out doesn’t diminish the modest appeal of an easygoing, feel-good fable content to bask in its leisurely ride.
