Ingredients: grizzled, growly Clint Eastwood + a sports movie + new fangled tech vs. old school know how + father/daughter story = one treacly movie.
The first trailer for "Trouble With The Curve" has arrived, and actually, it's not unlike "Playing For Keeps" which dropped today as well, just aged up with a few tweaks. Instead of a soccer pro looking for redemption and a new life with his ex-wife and kid, it's an old-timey baseball scout trying to mend fences with his daughter as they chase a promising young player, while his eyesight continues to decline. There's not much nuance here, with Eastwood essentially reprising his "Gran Torino" role and gruffly keeping anyone who tries to make a connection at bay. There's Justin Timberlake trying to win the old man's approval with this charm as well as Amy Adams', and a bunch of faceless baseball drones discounting Eastwood's years of experience "Moneyball" style. And then a "Dr. Phil" joke. Oof.
Not quite what we expected, but seems to be the kind of broad dramedy that should hit a triple with a certain age demographic who don't demand much, if anything. "Trouble With The Curve" takes a swing on September 21st.