Hardball

Great performance by everyone. Heartfelt and an example of people can change for the better. Showing up in the midst of tragic living conditions is a good message.

Spoiler Alert: I googled how it ended, afraid that Reeves was going to keep gambling, be unreliable, and break the boys' hearts. He paid off his debts, took the boys to a MLB game and then for pizza, and kept coaching. Great. Only a beloved member of the team was murdered. I kept watching it because I thought it had a happy ending, but it did not. I do not want realism. I do not want children murdered. As far as I am concerned, this does not have a happy ending.

no sex not nasty well done

A film, not unlike poetry projects different messages to different people.This story begins where Conor, a hardened gambler finds himself on his knees in a sanctuary. The priest asks him if he's looking for faith or forgiveness. "I'm looking for the balls to cover the spread." He replies with submissive desperation. He returns to a bar where he loses himself in the purposeless world of gambling, finds himself in the desperate situation of not having enough money to cover his gambling debt, and winds up being beaten up by a loan shark. His desperation leads him to accept a job coaching a baseball team that consists of underprivileged kids from the crime infested projects for $500.00 a week. The team is short two players. Their school teacher, Sister Wilkes, played by Diane Lane, won't allow the two members who complete the team to play until they have read their book reports. Conor takes it upon himself to negotiate with her, and ends up agreeing to tutor the boys. Initially the coaching starts off as merely a means to an end, but as he spends more time with the boys and becomes familiarized with the dangers to which they are exposed and the conditions under which they are forced to live, he recognizes something more important than himself and his own problems. He teaches the boys to respect one another. He helps them to believe in themselves. One day when Conor presents himself in the classroom, dressed in pants that, to the amusement of the children are way too short for him, he finds himself being affected by the words of Kofi, who is requested by Siter Wilkes to give a review on the book that they were assigned to read. "Where I'm from do nobody father come back."In a sequence of events that follow, Conor finds himself trying to cheer the boys up when they are down. The scene where Conor waves his arms in the air, and sings to B.I.G.'s rap song "Big Poppa" in an attempt to help Miles with his rhythm which he needs in order to pitch well, is both entertaining and heartwarming. For me, the best scene is portrayed when Conor reaches a cross-road, and has to choose between gambling his winnings and treating the Kekambas to a big league game. He chooses to treat the boys to the game, and on seeing the ecstasy on their faces, he derives obvious pleasure at allowing his own inner peace to parallel the happiness he sees in the children. His facial expresion reads - "Yeah, now this feels right!" After a profoundly tragic event, Conor is astounded by the boys' staying power and their ability to always show up; he tells them so.In a world where we are exposed to an accelerated severing of the threads of human kindness, it is uplifting to watch a film in which the premise encompasses the message -- through the fertilizer a flower may grow. As for the role of Conor, no one could have played the role as perfectly as Keanu Reeves, as he possesses a quality that projects his own isolating sadness, which parallels that of the boys. The boys who played the team members of the Kekambas were outstanding actors. I highly recommend this film for all parents to see.

Very good life lesson. Be a part of something, and stick together.

"Hardball" is one of those gritty movies about Conor O'Neil (Keanu Reeves), a gambler who is indebted to loan sharks and takes on the role of a baseball coach to earn money to pay back his debts. Along the way, he learns about life as he coaches a group of young boys and being a role model to his team. Diane Lane plays the teacher of the boys who grows to like Conor. This is a solid urban drama with plenty of grit, touching moments and hope.

This movie had so much potential; a great cast, especially the kids, and a captivating storyline - only to throw it all away and make out of it, the most surface-level and cliche film possible. Without so many useless side storylines that go nowhere, maybe there would have been more room dive deeper into the socioeconomic issues that serve as the basis and main interest for this movie, or the development of the kids who grow up there. Instead, the characters are very shallow and there's no arc to make sense of anything that happens. Reeves continuously falls in and out of some street urchin persona that doesn’t work. At one point he blows up at the kids, quitting the team, and then returns - has some sort of psychotic or drunk episode, yelling at them - and proceeds to drive all of them to a cubs game??? And these kids, porportedly from the south side, go wild for the Cubs? His character also lacks the common sense and/or empathy to take the kids home after practice, so they end up walking back to the 'projects' in the dark. And if you're looking forward to the details of Chicago, I will say it seems much if not all was filmed on-site and you get some good locations in some shots. But overall production is straight up LAZY with the details. At one point, Reeves and his partner in ticket scalping are selling hawks tickets at what clearly looks to be a wolves game. Why does Reeves' character take his romantic interest on a date to Sluggers, which is not only on the far north side but is also a bar with batting cages (noteably never shown) and early 20-somethings.Lastly, the movie is based on Daniel Coyle’s book Hardball: A Season in the Projects, but really does nothing to pay tribute to it besides switch almost every cool detail to some hollywood-cliche to be abandoned just as soon as it starts. I think my biggest frustration with Hardball is that it depicts an 'inner-city' lifestyle and could have been SO good, but instead its hesitant to engage with its' own self. Save yourself the time and watch something else. I hope someone someday tries this again and gets it right.

The DVD arrived in perfect condition. A wonderful and inspiring movie that tugs on your heart strings. Highly recommend for fans of sports movies!

Es la unica manera que encontre de ver esta pelicula. Al menos en la fecha que yo la buscaba, no la consegui encontrar en español.

Keanu reeves in una parte "insolita" per lui,che mi ha abituato a vederlo in film d'azione e pochi "drammatico/romantico".Il prodotto l'ho acquistato usato e devo dire che come altri dvd usati acqustati in questi mesi non ha nulla da invidiare a quelli nuovi,il prezzo (esclusa la spedizione 2.90 Euro) è stato "esiguo" e la qualità del prodotto è veramente buona,custodia e copertina sono perfette come il dvd.CONSIGLIO SIA IL FILM HARDBALL CHE I DVD USATI IN BUONO STATO.

Lo vidi un paio di volte nel decennio scorso, e penso che sia uno di quei film da ricordare e rivedere per tutta la vita. Una storia di speranze e dolore, di gioie e sofferenze, di vita e di morte. Sono davvero pochi i film di cui, dopo anni, ho sentito una profonda mancanza nel mio cuore. E questo è uno di quelli.

Ce film nous plonge dans la banlieu de Chicago, beaucoup dirons "c'est exagéré" mais, pour y avoir été, je peut affirmé que tout ce qui est décrit dans le film est bien réèl (malheureusement !).Bon parlons du film, on commence le film en haïssant plus que jamais ce joueur endétté jusqu'au cou près à se faire massacrer pour jouer au courses, et puis, petit à petit cette haine se transforme en même temps que le personnage lui même (c'était évident, on va pas détester Keanu Reeves tout le film !!!). Le plus beau moment du film et probablement le plus triste, c'est lorsque conor (Keanu Reeves) prononce un discours pour l'enterrement d'un des enfants dont il est l'entraineur, il est facile de savoir à quoi pense Keanu en cet instant (les fans comprendrons), et le fait que ce discours soit presque du vécu me fait fondre en larmes à chaque fois (encore faut il le regarder en VO).J'arrete ici en disant simplement que ce film est un bijou d'émotion avec une lourde prise de conscience, à voir et à revoir sans modération.

Arrivato puntualissimo e film per me davvero bello