Very well executed

There are better movies of two hours length. I loved the actress'performance.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

This is a strong character study. I really enjoyed it, but it is not a sports movie, at least not what one thinks of a typical sports movie. Strong acting throughout elevate this from being a pretty run of the mill character study. I really enjoyed hating the Ethan Hawke character. At times I thought the character was slightly over the top, but I still liked it. Worth watching. Just a word of warning, if sports movies are your favorite genre, you may want to reset your expectations a bit before watching. You will probably enjoy it more.

Too bad I was actually tricked in by watching this. I mean, come on, the cast of characters, the short story plot, and even the cover of the movie which pretty much tells you that this is gonna be a baseball movie. And I love baseball movies because they are feel good movies. The Natural, Moneyball, Major League, Field of Dreams. Only this is not a baseball movie.....at all. Not one game is played. Occasionally you will see the main character throw a few pitches to his coach, or his dad, but that's basically it. You see this amazing rookie pitcher make it to the big leagues, but because of a game in which he goes out of control, (Of course we never get to see this), he winds up talking to a Sports shrink. The movie is frustrating because it goes from flashback to present to flashback. It's mostly a dialogue movie with no plot. I won't go into the movie details. If you like wasting an hour and a half of your time watching a dialogue movie with no point, by all means go see it. But if you watch this because of the reasons why I watched it, don't bother, trust me you will be disappointed.

"It doesn't matter what I want cause I have a contract, and you know what, I'll tell you something. They picked the wrong guy because I'm just an ordinary kid." Hopper (Simmons) is a star baseball pitcher that has recently been demoted after a shaky outing. He is sent to psychologist Dr. Mobley (Giamatti) in hopes of him figuring out what is wrong. When Hopper begins to talk about his overbearing father (Hawke) Mobley begins to understand what Hopper's problem is. But it may be too late. I am a huge sucker for all sports movies and I love Paul Giamatti so I was really excited about watching this. I have to say though this is nothing like I expected. At the risk of over simplifying, the movie is basically a baseball player version of Good Will Hunting. Simmons actually plays the part perfect as a kid who isn't sure what he wants anymore and is essentially going though the motions while his dad tries to totally control him. I could keep going on about this but if you liked Good Will Hunting I would recommend this as well. Overall, not what I expected, it was better. I give this a B+.

It's a movie about a kid who loved playing baseball. He worked really hard everyday to get better and better at the game, then suddenly one day he discovers he is better than everybody else. So, what now?Everybody expects something of him. His team expects him to throw 100mph fastballs into the strike zone game after game. His coach expects him to stay out of trouble. His teacher expects him finish school. His dad expects him to not get lazy and waste his talent. His girlfriend expects him to be just a normal guy who she can talk to and relate to and be best friends with. And his shrink expects him to accept his talent.Would I recommend you to watch this movie? Yes. Although most of us can't throw 100mph fastballs, but if you can just suspend belief for a moment and put yourself into his shoes, you will find a very well written story about a working class kid working hard and making a success of himself.No. If you go into this thinking "he's making $$$ millions, what's he got to complain about?" or "he's naturally talented, why everybody want to drag him down?" Then you are better off watching something else.