An inspirational story, the movie Hardball tells a tale of heartbreak and hope. The theme may be a drama about winning, but this rag tag baseball team packs in a lot of heart, extreme adversity and anguish just for a chance to play for all the marbles. With excellent storytelling by director Brian Robbins, acting by Keanu Reeves and ten pre-teens, you’ll laugh, shed a tear and feel the pain.
Following a visit from his loan shark, Conner O’Neill (Keanu Reeves) finds himself up against the wall trying to pay off his gambling debt. Needing money he reaches out to his high school friend Jimmy (Michael McGlone) who offers him a job to coach the little league baseball team his company is sponsoring. He figures it will be an easy $500 a week and in eight weeks will give him a good chunk for his loan.
But, with all his personal problems he has inherited a team from the depressed housing projects. With ten kids, most of which live where gang bangers congregate each night in front of their building, he’ll have to deal with more than balls and strikes. In spite of the nearly impossible odds of winning even one game, he sets his sights on taking the team to the champion“ship”.
Director Brian Robbins (Varsity Blues) has a challenging job on his hands depicting the gang activities in the projects, the poverty and young actors that can actually play baseball. But he’s up to the task making everything look real. His rag tag team that has to work together in order to win a games with a down on his luck coach to bring it all together and it’s a winner. Robbins adds some magic making the film heartwarming in the midst of a heartbreaker.
Bringing it all together is a fine performance by Keanu Reeves who was just coming off The Matrix and it’s two sequel before signing on to play Connor O’Neil. He made the film work becoming the “little movie that could”. The audiences loved the film filling seats to the tune of over $40 million on an under 25% budget. And they had to fend off the competition that included American Pie 2, Rush Hour 2 and Zoolander in the midst of the crowded late summer market.
The HARDBALL 20TH anniversary Blu-ray includes the following legacy bonus content:
“Commentary by” director Brian Robbins and writer John Gatins
“The Making of Hardball”
“Deleted Scenes”
“Music Video” – ‘Hardball’ by Lil’ Bow Wow, Lil’ Wayne, Lil’ Zane and Sammie
“Interstitials” Andre Ray Peetes (Bryan Hearne), Kofi (Michael Perkins)
“Theatrical Trailer”
Editor’s Note: Check out young Michael B. Jordan (Creed, Black Panther) as little leaguer Jamal who was just 13 at the time of filming Hardball.
Specifications and additional video information:
Cast: Keanu Reeves, Diana Lane, John Hawkes, D.B. Sweeney, Michael B. Jordan, Michael Perkins, Bryan Hearne
Directed by: Brian Robbins
Genre: Drama, Sports
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for thematic elements, language and some violence
Running Time: 1 hr. 46 min.
Video Release Date: September 21, 2021
Original Theatrical Release Date: 2001
Language: English
Reviewed Format: Blu-ray
Audio: DTS-Master Audio 5.1
Video: 1080p HD
Subtitles: English, English SDH, French
Distributed by: Paramount Home Entertainment
Released on: Blu-ray 20 Anniversary Edition
Writer, critic, film editor John Delia, Sr. has been on all sides of the movie business from publications to film making. He has worked as a film critic with ACED Magazine for more than 20 years and other publications for a total of 40 years. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of Florida. John is a member of the Southeastern Film Critics Association and Critics Association of Central Florida Send John a message at jdelia@acedmagazine.com
