CLINT EASTWOOD IN TROUBLE WITH THE CURVE

year: 2012 cast: Clint Eastwood, Amy Adams, Justin Timberlake, John Goodman rating: ***

Okay, so Clint Eastwood’s Gus is very familiar. Take away the racism and he’s the surly yet endearing old-timer from GRAND TORINO – but this coot has a pretty good job.

As a baseball scout, an aged Gus is losing his sight, but he still has a way of picking the best players: although it takes time and he doesn't need a computer. He passes this inherent talent to daughter Mickey, played by blue-eyed pixie Amy Adams, joining him on the road to help out (but what she really wants is closure from a rocky past).

The best moments occur whenever Gus and Mickey sit down at random small town bleachers to figure if a new prospect lives up to his reputation. Throw in Justin Timberlake's rookie scout for a little romance, in an old-school courtship with Mickey, who, like her father, is used to going alone.

This is a cozy film about baseball and especially father/daughter bonding, and the parallels between the two leads are right up front: both have to keep working (Mickey's a lawyer) or they’ll be replaced. The problem with this curve are the side characters, all either really nice or extremely rotten. And the ending piles on so much comeuppance for the jerks begging to be punished, you’ll feel the writer forcing applause from your knuckles.

Yet despite the clichés, and some corny filler dialogue, this is a decent little jaunt around bases: Just don't expect a home run.