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Hardball

year 2001decade 00sdirector Brian Robbinsgenre Sports / Drama

106 minutes

Cast

Selected cast credits · Film reference

Keanu Reeves Conor O'Neill
Diane Lane Elizabeth Wilkes
John Hawkes "Ticky" Tobin
D. B. Sweeney Matt Hyland
Mike McGlone Jimmy Fleming
Bryan C. Hearne Andre Ray Peetes
Michael Perkins Kofi Evans
DeWayne Warren Jarius "G-Baby" Evans

Hardball | The Rewatchables

host Bill Simmonshost Van Lathanproducer Craig Horlbeck
Explore episodeClose episode

Most Rewatchable Scene

Keanu’s speech and the pizza scene receive distinct final preferences.

In the discussion (10)
Approx. transcript time · 00:31:21Read transcript
  • Meeting the children efficiently establishes personalities, including the asthma, distrust, comic-relief and talented-player roles.
  • The classroom book report reveals that the child read the book and connects a father returning with his own world; more classroom scenes are wanted.
  • The child carrying pizza and afraid to enter his home is deeply affecting, prompting reflection on Black boys in danger and unequal life circumstances.
  • A random gunshot that makes the children freeze is another effective detail; the film is compared with season four of The Wire.
  • The pizza scene is hard to watch but nominated, alongside Miles pitching with headphones like peak Pedro Martinez.
  • The all-or-nothing bet unexpectedly succeeds, and the frantic performance with John Hawks commentary is a favorite comic scene.
  • G baby getting his jersey and the crowd singing Big Papa are additional highlights.
  • The funeral performance is praised, as is the corny but effective showing-up message at the end.
  • The trophy scene is painful because G baby is absent; a producer account says the studio required it after the original field-running ending, and one child was missing.
  • The final personal preferences are the Keanu speech and the hard-hitting pizza scene.

What’s Aged the Best?

The children, lasting friendships, performances and selected scenes endure, with the violence discussion also raised as an aged-worst concern.

In the discussion (12)
Approx. transcript time · 00:39:32Read transcript
  • Michael B. Jordan is praised for the hurt in the scene where the altered birth certificate keeps him from playing.
  • Jamal is imagined as Wallace before a move from Chicago to Baltimore, perhaps with Wallace as his surname.
  • Sterling Brim is reported to have met Michael B. Jordan on the film after moving from a planned baseball-extra role to the team; their lasting friendship is praised.
  • The movie is tentatively credited with originating the going-to-the-ship chant after a search, rather than an established history.
  • John Hawks is praised, with Winter’s Bone recognition and Miami Vice mentioned.
  • The baseball outing and peak Sammy Sosa cameo are liked; a producer account says a $50,000 fee gained an extra $5,000 cash payment after a $10,000 demand.
  • A viewing anecdote recalls falsely promising a spouse nobody dies and provoking an angry, tearful reaction.
  • The late-practice problem is handled effectively, while the overacting and awkward smoking provide unintended comedy.
  • Diane Lane is seen as working hard without chemistry or sufficient material; a joking explanation connects the frustration to Unfaithful.
  • A Chicago Bad News Bears concept appeals as television; G baby negotiating his teammate’s return deepens his character, and the child cast has no weak performer.
  • Black child performers are argued to have a high success rate, with Phantom Menace offered as a contrasting failure.
  • The gang-violence portrayal remains relevant and is recalled as an early personal exposure; the other response puts this under aged worst.

What’s Aged the Worst?

The imbalance between coach and children, G baby’s death, weak supporting material, implausible baseball and the ending song are criticized.

In the discussion (8)
Approx. transcript time · 00:49:14Read transcript
  • A contemporary version should focus more on the children’s dangerous world and less on the coach’s self-inflicted gambling problems.
  • The star-financing requirement is offered as context for prioritizing the coach, with Coach Carter and available leading men discussed.
  • Killing G baby and the thin online reference pages are criticized.
  • D.B. Sweeney has an underdeveloped mean-coach role compared with earlier promise in Eight Men Out, The Cutting Edge and Memphis Belle.
  • The Sosa cameo precedes his decline, and the death-then-championship-vote plot is compared with The White Shadow; the book basis is raised in response.
  • The young players make implausibly spectacular defensive plays, compared with dunk-filled basketball movies and For Love of the Game.
  • The teacher returning after an unpleasant date is implausible.
  • The closing song is judged wrong for the moment, then criticized more strongly because it is R. Kelly in a children’s movie set in Chicago.

The Joey Pants “That Guy” Award

The actor transcribed as Mike McClone is selected, with the Oz actor as another candidate.

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 00:55:09Read transcript
  • The Oz mafia actor playing the Fink is considered, but the actor’s full identity is not resolved.
  • The winner is the actor transcribed as Mike McClone, known as the Ed Burns brother from the early films and playing the Wall Street employer here.
  • His role in She’s the One inspires enthusiastic discussion of the romantic triangle and a possible future episode, with Boomerang as a cast comparison.

The Dion Waiters Award for Best Heat Check Performance

John Hawks is selected despite a screen-time concern; Michael B. Jordan is the alternative.

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 00:57:54Read transcript
  • John Hawks is proposed, with concern that the gambling buddy is present too often.
  • Five scenes and a thin cast justify giving him the award.
  • Michael B. Jordan is another possible nominee for the strong acting scene and sad final appearance.

Apex Mountain

The funeral scene is favored as an acting peak; Sosa and ticket scalpers are endorsed while other cases are debated.

In the discussion (8)
Approx. transcript time · 01:05:34Read transcript
  • Keanu’s career is rejected as apex here, but the funeral is treated as possibly his best single acting scene.
  • The Devil’s Advocate performance is defended, followed by rejections for Diane Lane, Michael B. Jordan, John Hawks and D.B. Sweeney.
  • Sosa is endorsed as still at his peak before public decline, followed by a remake joke about playing the coach.
  • Ticket scalpers are proposed at a peak before online sales, with Money Talks as another film example.
  • Posthumous Biggie is proposed but rejected in favor of Life After Death and the Notorious movie.
  • Big Papa itself is proposed because of enduring cable exposure.
  • The Tim Floyd era is endorsed, then the Bulls failure to win 22 games and uncertainty about another head job are discussed.
  • Self-inflicted movie fights prompt another apex question, with Fight Club favored and Me, Myself and Irene recalled.

Sequel, Prequel, Limited Series, or All-Black Remake

A ten-episode adaptation is strongly endorsed.

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 01:15:27Read transcript
  • The responses to a ten-episode Netflix remake are certainly and pretty easily.
  • A paid sports-movie consultancy is jokingly offered to keep the adaptation on track; the Sosa coach idea returns.

Who Won the Movie?

G baby is the winner because of the character’s lasting emotional impact.

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 01:20:14Read transcript
  • G baby is selected and affirmed as the film’s enduring identity.
  • The death remains an instantly understood reference, illustrated by a family joke equating laughing at it with heartlessness.
  • G baby’s acting is praised and the winner choice repeated.
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