Barnes & Noble

Hardball, the latest celluloid manifestation of Hollywood's peculiar confidence in the healing power of baseball, manages to be genuinely touching even as it is thoroughly predictable. Keanu Reeves portrays Conor O'Neill, a down-at-the-heels Chicago gambler who reluctantly takes a job coaching a sandlot baseball team comprised of rough-edged, cynical, inner-city kids. They don't have much faith in the new coach, and probably with good reason: He plans to desert them as soon as he makes enough money to pay his debts. But something about these spirited youths -- and about their idealistic, pretty teacher (Diane Lane) -- convinces Conor that he should stick around, especially when the team's morale is shattered by an unexpected tragedy. Director Brian Robbins (Varsity Blues) doesn't show us anything we haven't seen before, but the earnest performances of Reeves and Lane, coupled with the vigorously staged and viscerally exciting baseball sequences, make Hardball much more than the sum of its clichés. This inspiring, exhilarating drama demonstrates once again that there are few cinematic conventions more satisfying than the depiction of an underdog's triumph over adversity. Director Robbins and writer John Gates contribute a feature-length commentary for the DVD, which also includes a making-of featurette, three deleted scenes, and a "Hardball" music video, in addition to theatrical trailers. Ed Hulse

All Movie Guide

Television actor-turned-director Brian Robbins follows up Varsity Blues (1999) and Ready to Rumble (2000) with another sports comedy. Keanu Reeves stars as Conor O'Neill, an underachiever and inveterate sports gambler who needs a bailout loan from a friend to pay off his mounting debt. As a condition for receiving the necessary funds, Conor is saddled with coaching a corporate-sponsored Little League baseball team for underprivileged youth in Chicago's notorious Cabrini Green housing project. Reluctant at first, Conor slowly begins to enjoy his new authority role, especially when he makes the acquaintance of his players' attractive teacher, Elizabeth Wilkes (Diane Lane). Based on the real-life chronicle Hardball: A Season in the Projects by Outside magazine editor Daniel Coyle, Hardball also stars D.B. Sweeney and Mike McGlone. Karl Williams

New York Times

Does surprisingly few lurches as it walks the tightrope between urban realism ... and family entertainment. Stephen Holden

San Francisco Chronicle

Works where it counts, on the emotional level. Bob Graham

Product Details

• UPC: 097363307945
• Source: PARAMOUNT
• Region Code: 1
• Aspect Ratio: Theatre Wide-Screen (1.85.1)
• Presentation: Wide Screen
• Sound: Dolby Digital Surround, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
• Language: English, Français
• Subtitles: English
• Time: 1:46:00
• Sales Rank: 14,096

This DVD is also available as part of a box set:

• Baseball Game Night Collection

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