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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

67
$9.99
75
24 City
66
Adoration
74
Afghan Star
48
Alien Trespass
56
American Violet
82
Anvil! The Story of Anvil
57
Away We Go
81
Beaches of Agnes, The
62
Big Man Japan
28
Big Shot-Caller, The
78
Boys: The Sherman Brothers' Story, The
55
Brothers Bloom, The
82
Burma VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country
xx
Call of the Wild
63
Cheri
62
Cherry Blossoms
63
Dead Snow
65
Departures
18
Downloading Nancy
58
Easy Virtue
70
End of the Line, The
77
Every Little Step
64
Examined Life
80
Food, Inc.
38
Gigantic
56
Girl from Monaco, The
67
Girlfriend Experience, The
87
Gomorrah
89
Goodbye Solo
63
Great Buck Howard, The
79
Harvard Beats Yale 29-29
xx
Home
82
Hunger
91
Hurt Locker, The
16
I Hate Valentine's Day
81
Il Divo
54
Is Anybody There?
71
Jerichow
58
Julia
74
Lemon Tree
36
Life is Hot in Cracktown
40
Limits of Control, The
42
Little Ashes
64
Lymelife
50
Management
57
Merry Gentleman, The
66
Moon
35
New York
62
Not Forgotten
xx
Offshore
78
O'Horten
64
Outrage
40
Paris 36
54
Pontypool
71
Pressure Cooker
52
Quiet Chaos
83
Revanche
67
Rudo y Cursi
86
Seraphine
65
Sex Positive
70
Shall We Kiss?
77
Sin Nombre
59
Sleep Dealer
74
Song of Sparrows, The
54
Stoning of Soraya M., The
82
Sugar
84
Summer Hours
61
Sunshine Cleaning
28
Surveillance
42
Tennessee
63
Tetro
64
Throw Down Your Heart
80
Tokyo Sonata
63
Tokyo!
70
Tony Manero
74
Treeless Mountain
88
Tulpan
74
Two Lovers
83
Tyson
83
U2 3D
60
Under Our Skin
69
Unmistaken Child
69
Valentino: The Last Emperor
22
What Goes Up
45
Whatever Works
57
Youssou Ndour: I Bring What I Love
91
Hurt Locker, The
89
Goodbye Solo
88
Tulpan
87
Gomorrah
86
Seraphine
84
Summer Hours
83
U2 3D
83
Revanche
83
Tyson
82
Burma VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country
82
Sugar
82
Hunger
82
Anvil! The Story of Anvil
81
Il Divo
81
Beaches of Agnes, The
80
Food, Inc.
80
Tokyo Sonata
79
Harvard Beats Yale 29-29
78
Boys: The Sherman Brothers' Story, The
78
O'Horten
77
Every Little Step
77
Sin Nombre
75
24 City
74
Treeless Mountain
74
Afghan Star
74
Two Lovers
74
Song of Sparrows, The
74
Lemon Tree
71
Pressure Cooker
71
Jerichow
70
Shall We Kiss?
70
Tony Manero
70
End of the Line, The
69
Valentino: The Last Emperor
69
Unmistaken Child
67
$9.99
67
Rudo y Cursi
67
Girlfriend Experience, The
66
Adoration
66
Moon
65
Sex Positive
65
Departures
64
Outrage
64
Examined Life
64
Throw Down Your Heart
64
Lymelife
63
Tokyo!
63
Cheri
63
Dead Snow
63
Tetro
63
Great Buck Howard, The
62
Cherry Blossoms
62
Big Man Japan
62
Not Forgotten
61
Sunshine Cleaning
60
Under Our Skin
59
Sleep Dealer
58
Julia
58
Easy Virtue
57
Away We Go
57
Merry Gentleman, The
57
Youssou Ndour: I Bring What I Love
56
Girl from Monaco, The
56
American Violet
55
Brothers Bloom, The
54
Is Anybody There?
54
Pontypool
54
Stoning of Soraya M., The
52
Quiet Chaos
50
Management
48
Alien Trespass
45
Whatever Works
42
Little Ashes
42
Tennessee
40
Limits of Control, The
40
Paris 36
38
Gigantic
36
Life is Hot in Cracktown
35
New York
28
Big Shot-Caller, The
28
Surveillance
22
What Goes Up
18
Downloading Nancy
16
I Hate Valentine's Day
xx
Call of the Wild
xx
Home
xx
Offshore
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
|
Hardball
Paramount Pictures
FILM:
MPAA RATING: PG-13 for thematic elements, language and some violence
Starring
Keanu Reeves,
Diane Lane,
Trevor Morgan,
Michael B. Jordan,
D.B. Sweeney,
and
John Hawkes
Reeves portrays Conor O'Neill -- an underachiever who is both inspired and redeemed by the unlikeliest group of people he could ever have imagined. In order to pay off a gambling debt, O'Neill is thrust into molding underprivileged kids into a cohesive unit in one of the toughest parts of Chicago. (Paramount Pictures)
| GENRE(S): |
Drama
|
| WRITTEN BY: |
Daniel Coyle (book Hardball: A Season in the Projects)
John Gatins
|
| DIRECTED BY: |
Brian Robbins
|
| RELEASE DATE: |
DVD: February 19, 2002
Video: February 19, 2002
Theatrical: September 14, 2001
|
| RUNNING TIME: |
105 minutes, Color |
| ORIGIN: |
USA |

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
80
Los Angeles Times
Kevin Thomas
A surefire heart-tugger made with skill and judgment, affords Keanu Reeves a career high point.

75
Portland Oregonian
David Germain
Blends its seemingly disparate elements into a coherent film that's entertaining, funny, sad and even a bit uplifting and inspirational.

75
Miami Herald
Rene Rodriguez
Cynics may roll their eyes at Hardball's earnestness, but the movie proves even the most conventional stories can move and engage you, provided they're told well.

70
Slate
Matt Feeney
Toward the end of Hardball, the story takes a jolting turn from heartwarming to tear-jerking that people might find cruelly manipulative. Perhaps under normal circumstances, I would too. But these are not normal circumstances, and instead of put off, I was completely undone.

70
New Times (L.A.)
Bill Gallo
Hardball is not as bad as it sounds, and at its best it's charming.

70
Washington Post
Michael O'Sullivan
Surprisingly brusque yet likable film.

70
Salon.com
Stephanie Zacharek
It may follow a formula, but sometimes formula equals comforting routine. And there are times, in the movies and elsewhere, when routine is exactly what you need.

70
The New York Times
Stephen Holden
Its uplifting message about teamwork and caring wouldn't hurt a fly. You might even say, the movie is good for you.

63
USA Today
Claudia Puig
Those who were upset by the tragic ending of last year's "Pay It Forward" should be warned away.

63
Chicago Sun-Times
Roger Ebert
It drifts above the surface of its natural subjects, content to be a genre picture. We're always aware of the formula--and in a picture based on real life, we shouldn't be.

63
New York Daily News
Jami Bernard
A by-the-numbers tearjerker notable mostly for the most adorable little sluggers this side of the "Bad News Bears."

60
Washington Post
Megan Rosenfeld
It is only when Reeves meets up with his incredibly cute baseball team that this movie comes to life.

50
Chicago Tribune
Mark Caro
Remains watchable when it's not hitting you like a baseball bat with poignancy. But by the time you've endured all of the shamelessly manipulative plot turns and heart-yanking speeches that close out the movie, all you can do is cry foul.

50
San Francisco Chronicle
Bob Graham
Hardball works where it counts, on the emotional level.

50
Boston Globe
Jay Carr
Ultimately, the kids carry this manipulative tear-jerker. They're warm, lively charmers.
50
Chicago Reader
Lisa Alspector
The filmmakers realize that playing baseball isn't nearly enough to fix what's wrong in these kids' lives, which might have made a more provocative ending than what follows.

40
Mr. Showbiz
Cody Clark
The actors playing the team members have stereotypical roles, but these kids have got game.
40
Austin Chronicle
Kimberley Jones
When the boys are tossing balls around and bopping in time to Notorious B.I.G., they -- and the film -- are right-on.

40
LA Weekly
Chuck Wilson
Until its dismaying final 15 minutes, this baseball redemption movie sails along on the charms of cute kids and a star who makes up in bone structure what he lacks in talent.

40
Variety
Robert Koehler
There's no cork inside Hardball, but there's more than enough corn. Everything about the movie is geared for maximum uplifting and tear-jerking effect, and seems designed, in the end, to question the old saw that there's no crying in baseball.

38
Baltimore Sun
Chris Kaltenbach
As shallow and manipulative a movie as any that come to mind.
30
TV Guide
Steve Simels
Along the way, director Brian Robbins indulges Reeves in too many laughable inspirational speeches. He also wastes the terrific Diane Lane in the thankless role of the kids' dedicated teacher.

25
Entertainment Weekly
Lisa Schwarzbaum
The movie is so littered with clichés of genre, as well as clichés of artifice in Reeves' pained performance, that any semblance of social reality goes foul.

25
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
William Arnold
Wants to be an offbeat, hard-edged, inspirational sports movie, but it misses its target by a country mile.

10
Rolling Stone
Peter Travers
The film takes a true story and drags it through a swamp of hyped-up Hollywood cliches.


The average user rating for this movie is 9.6 (out of 10) based on 49 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
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