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Hardball
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Hardball is a talking-head style cable news show where the moderator advances opinions on a wide range of topics, focusing primarily on political issues. These issues are discussed with a panel of guests that usually consist of political analysts and sometimes include politicians. The format of the show can lead to confrontations: During coverage of the 2004 Republican National Convention, then-U.S. Senator Zell Miller, (D-Georgia), who supported Republican President George W. Bush and was the keynote speaker at the Republican convention, angrily stated that he wished he could challenge Matthews to a duel because of Matthews' questioning ([1]).
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For those new to politics, “Hardball with Chris Matthews” is a cable news show that features discussion of a wide range of topics, focusing primarily on politics. To learn more about the show, visit MSNBC.
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Movies like "Hardball" have no distinct purpose for existing. Too somber to be a comedy, too syrupy to be an effective drama, and too derivative to be an entertaining or incisive baseball flick, only the most undiscriminating viewers will find anything to recommend it. Director Robbins fervently sticks to the sports movie rule books in adapting Daniel Coyle's non-fictional novel, "Hardball: A Season in the Projects," and makes nary an attempt to do anything that strays from the tiresome formula. When all is said and done, the picture fails to inject even a modicum of life into its proceedings. "Hardball" is, ultimately, nothing more than a very hard film to sit through.
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Hardball strikes out trying to depict the trials and inspirations of Chicago's inner-city Near North Little League. It suffers from a classic case of "if-onlys." If only the head-bobbing Keanu Reeves hadn’t been cast as Coach Conor. If only screenwriters had left out about 50 s-words, many of them uttered by preadolescents. If only director Brian Robbin (responsible for the vulgar teen romp Varsity Blues) hadn’t stripped the story, originally based on the life of a missionary, of its Christian ideals.
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In the vein of sports underdog movies, Hardball is nothing new. Like every other movie out this summer, predictability is the name of the game. There are two things going on here, neither terribly interesting. The first is the story of a rag-tag baseball team with no future. Somehow, they will come together and overcome all the obstacles set forth before them. The second is the story of a broken man with no future. Somehow, he will bring his life back together and overcome all the obstacles set forth before him.
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With "Hardball," Keanu Reeves has peculiarly made his second sports film in just as many years (2000's football comedy "The Replacements"). He stars as Conor O'Neill, a down-on-his-luck compulsive gambler who is in debt no less than $6,000. With time running out to pay the impatient bookies, he seeks the help of an old pal (Mike McGlone) who, in turn, agrees to pay him $500 a week if he will coach his company's Little League team. Conor reluctantly agrees, despite claiming to not be good with kids, and immediately takes a liking to the ragtag bunch, all of which are residing in the projects of Chicago.
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Hardball