Cinema Review (From Barry And District News)

Cinema Review

Hardball (12) ****

DESPITE critical slamming, you can't say Keanu Reeves is a bad actor.

Fair enough, he was awful in The Watcher and wooden in The Matrix, but he delivered fine performances in Speed and Devil's Advocate. This, however, is probably his best performance ever.

He plays a gambler, who owes $12000. Desperately seeking help, he ends up coaching a kid's baseball team for money. With these kids, from dangerous and poor backgrounds, he begins to bond and determines to make them successful. Yes, this a Mighty Ducks rip off, but it can be emotional at times and well scripted and acted. Clich-ridden it may be, but entertaining it still is.

A short performance by Diane Lane is good and a cameo from D B Sweeney is also well played, but Reeves surprisingly gives a wonderful performance. Sure, you still can't get Bill and Ted out of your mind, but his dedication and perfect screen presence should be well praised.

While all the themes are clichs, including all the characters, the film is still successful as it has one of those 'if it ain't broke don't fix it' attitudes. The child actors are all brilliant, as they inject some humour, and they also ride the emotions. It's debatable whether the film could be labelled racist as there's a theme that black people are thugs, but the sad truth is that in some parts of America, young black children grow up around crime.

Oscar worthy it's not, it's also not even that memorable, but for the moment it's wonderful, thanks to Keanu Reeve's presence.