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Friday, September 21, 2012

2012 / Film Trouble with the Curve: Less Interesting Than an Old Man Ranting at an Empty Chair

Posted by Paul Constant on Fri, Sep 21, 2012 at 3:28 PM

Siddown. Imma tell you about the old days, back when I had a prostate an wimmen knew their place.

"Siddown. I'mma tell you about the old days, back when I had a prostate an' wimmen knew their place."

Trouble with the Curve is such a boring, generic movie that you almost have to watch it in a political context, just to keep yourself awake. Some good actors—Amy Adams, John Goodman—and two interesting personalities—Clint Eastwood, Justin Timberlake—are given absolutely nothing to work with, in terms of script or filmmaking skill. It's all so terribly boring. A baseball scout (Eastwood) is going blind. His workaholic daughter (Adams) goes on a scouting trip with him to help compensate for his failing eyesight, and she starts to fall for a young scout (Timberlake) who is exactly the opposite of the kind of guy she's been seeing her whole life. You can predict the whole movie within thirty seconds of the first reel starting.

Luckily, Clint Eastwood's empty chair routine at the RNC happened less than a month ago. His angry, doddering speech to an imaginary president seemed like a prelude to his performance in this movie. Eastwood's character—I'm sure he has a name, but who cares?—spends a huge portion of his screentime ranting about how computers are a stupid waste of time. When he bangs up his car trying to get it out of his own garage, he grumbles about the "goddamned midgets" who built the structure too small. When we first meet him, he's arguing with his own, malfunctioning prostate.

Maybe before the RNC, this would be a mildly amusing, comic turn for Eastwood in an otherwise crappy movie. But now that we've seen him act like everybody's mildly racist grandfather in front of a live audience of millions, it doesn't seem like a performance, anymore. It feels like propaganda for a generation that has marked the 21st century off and longs, desperately, for the olden days. His RNC costar even makes a cameo appearance in Trouble with the Curve: There's a scene in which Eastwood, his vision obscured, runs into an empty chair. "Son of a bitch," he bellows at the chair, kicking it across the room. It's probably the best moment in the whole movie.

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Comments (15) RSS

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Paul: Have you/are you going to see Dredd? I'm hearing surprisingly good things about it but would like your take.

Posted by j.lee on September 21, 2012 at 3:46 PM

Paul, you need to get away from the political scene for a while and back into the real world.

Posted by Urgutha Forka on September 21, 2012 at 3:52 PM

Anyone know how to close that translucent Genius Awards advertisement bar that appears at the bottom? I don't see any close marker that you can click on. Thanks.

Posted by seatackled on September 21, 2012 at 4:20 PM

@2
Don't need to tell you this, everybody has a different definition of the 'real' world. It certainly isn't on a screen or in a blog.
See ya at the abandoned trainyard. And I'm not giving an account of my fascinating observations. Memories suck your life away, what you did this morning, the movie you watched last night. blah blah... CUT!! It's a wrap.

Posted by dnt trust me on September 21, 2012 at 4:26 PM

@#3
Click anywhere in the grey bar at the top of it (the one with the two downward-pointing angle brackets in the middle of it).

And pray that when the damn thing goes away after tomorrow it is not replaced with something similar.

Posted by Warren Terra on September 21, 2012 at 4:42 PM

What was racist about the RNC rant?

Posted by DOUG.

on September 21, 2012 at 4:53 PM

@5

Thanks, it worked--I assumed it was like those popups where you get a new page if you actually click on it.

Posted by seatackled on September 21, 2012 at 4:56 PM

Paul I saw an advanced screening its a good movie

Posted by Seattle14 on September 21, 2012 at 6:36 PM

@4,
It's not that, it's that Paul is so immersed in politics right now that it shows up in everything else he's writing.

Posted by Urgutha Forka on September 21, 2012 at 7:03 PM

@6

A doddering old fool felt it was a good idea to patronize a black man because he had a false sense of superiority. Kind of like when you call a black man a "boy."

Posted by GermanSausage on September 21, 2012 at 7:52 PM

Clint Eastwood movies have been boring since Bridges of Madison County. What did you expect?

Posted by Spoiler: hilary swank dies on September 21, 2012 at 8:28 PM

So. It's a Clint Eastwood movie?

Posted by Mugwumpt on September 22, 2012 at 11:47 AM

The scene about him talking to and then kicking the empty chair sounds hilarious. Perhaps he'll go on a comedy tour with an empty chair per the SNL skit.

Gran Torino was pretty good, even though I'm not an Eastwood fan.

Posted by Patricia Kayden on September 22, 2012 at 6:48 PM

@5 thanks! that's been bugging me, too.

Posted by slugbiker

on September 22, 2012 at 8:16 PM

Nice review - obvious what your POLITICAL affiliation is lol - wow can I make a living being a complete douche bag? Oh, I have to pull my paints down and bend over for some union - on second thought you are doing that well lol have a nice day ; ) Liberals are so generic lol
Posted by Your Name Here on December 24, 2012 at 8:53 PM

Posted by voodoomajick on December 24, 2012 at 9:45 PM