After a long couple of weeks working and being away from home, there was a huge need to sneak away and get back to the theaters to check out Trouble with the Curve.

Clint Eastwood found some time to get away from humiliating himself at political conventions to star as Gus, a old, long time baseball scout for the Atlanta Braves in search of one last signing before he gets pushed out by a new way of thinking that has seemingly taken over the Braves organization.

Mickey (Amy Adams) is heading towards partnership at her law firm, and is finally ready to prove to her father that she is independent and successful on her own. When she finds out that her father is starting to lose her eye sight she decides to join him out on the road in North Carolina as together they check out the next "sure thing" who is about to enter the Major League Baseball draft.

Justin Timberlake plays Johnny, a former pitcher who since being injured has taken up scouting as a way to stay involved in the game en route to his dream of broadcasting for the Boston Red Sox. Along the way he finds out that he and Mickey may have more in common that just the link of Gus playing major roles in their lives.

Watching this movie for me must be like watching E.R. or Grey's Anatomy for a doctor. There were so many liberties taken by the film makers to make the process of finding/developing baseball players more entertaining that it took away from my enjoyment of the movie. The fact that high school baseball was still being played at the time of the MLB draft, and that an organization wouldn't have all of their scouts (including their longest tenured, and one of the GM's right hand men) in their draft "war room" were just two of the most glaring to me.

With that being said, I certainly was entertained and enjoyed this movie. It's no secret that I think Justin Timberlake is great, and Amy Adams was very good in her role as Gus' daughter/strong female character. While he clearly is a different actor than he was in decades past, Clint Eastwood was very entertaining and played the grumpy old man role perfectly.

It was the type of performance you'd want to talk to an empty chair about.

Trouble with the Curve
Directed by: Robert Lorenz
Written by: Randy Brown
Starring: Clint Eastwood, Amy Adams and Justin Timberlake
My Rating: 3.25 out of 5
Would Gene Pick it?: Yes