| 80 |
Los Angeles Times
A surefire heart-tugger made with skill and judgment, affords Keanu Reeves a career high point.
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| 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
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.)
Hardball is not as bad as it sounds, and at its best it's charming.
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| 70 |
Washington Post
Surprisingly brusque yet likable film.
|
| 70 |
Salon.com
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
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
Those who were upset by the tragic ending of last year's "Pay It Forward" should be warned away.
|
| 63 |
Chicago Sun-Times
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
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
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
Hardball works where it counts, on the emotional level.
|
| 50 |
Boston Globe
Ultimately, the kids carry this manipulative tear-jerker. They're warm, lively charmers.
|
| 50 |
Chicago Reader
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
The actors playing the team members have stereotypical roles, but these kids have got game.
|
| 40 |
Austin Chronicle
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
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
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
As shallow and manipulative a movie as any that come to mind.
|
| 30 |
TV Guide
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
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
Wants to be an offbeat, hard-edged, inspirational sports movie, but it misses its target by a country mile.
|
| 10 |
Rolling Stone
The film takes a true story and drags it through a swamp of hyped-up Hollywood cliches.
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