Even though little has been heard from the film, upcoming baseball drama "Trouble with the Curve" will mark Clint Eastwood's first on-screen role since 2008's "Gran Torino." It will also be the first time since 1993's "In the Line of Fire" that he isn't directing himself. But he's got a trusted friend and collaborator behind the camera in Robert Lorenz — making his directorial debut here — who has worked as an assistant director to Eastwood on "Mystic River" and "Million Dollar Baby" and is partner with Clint at his shingle Malpaso Productions.
EW have now unveiled the first official look at the film, which features Eastwood alongside Amy Adams and Justin Timberlake in the dramatic tale of aging Atlanta Braves scout Gus who, due to vision problems, must team with his neglected daughter on a crucial scouting trip that'll no doubt double as family bonding time. “He gets his chance to prove whether he still has value as a scout—and as a dad,” helmer Lorenz explains. “They’re having trouble communicating. They always have, and now they’ve come to a point in the relationship where it’s either going to change or it’s not. He needs a little help, and she decides it’s worth the effort.”
Leaning on the success of "Moneyball," the film is also driven by the same "old school versus new school" story in baseball with Eastwood's Gus being pushed out of the Braves organization. John Goodman, who plays Gus' boss, apparently "recognizes that Gus is at risk of losing his job. There are younger people at the organization who think it’s time for new blood. Gus is old school, and they want to move him out.” With fellow Braves scout (Matthew Lillard) driving the team towards the new methodologies, support for Gus oddly comes in the form of a young rival scout, played by Timberlake, with things further complicating when "the young guys think [one particular talent] is flawless, and Gus is the one that figures out that [he] has trouble with the curve. He can’t always hit a curveball, and he sees this as a fundamental flaw.”
So, a sports underdog story, a father-daughter redemption tale, a buddy-movie and a coming-of-age drama all in one? Sure seems like it. Most importantly, though, the much-adored Eastwood as a man on the brink of losing his livelihood, fighting the system and making right of his past wrongs definitely sounds like a winner. "Trouble with the Curve" rounds the bases on September 28th.