It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.

A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

This is really an underrated gem in its own way. It's important to mention that this movie was released during the infamous baseball strike and unfortunately not many people wanted to go see a movie about baseball because they were so upset with the way things were being handled. It's really too bad because this is a very good movie.The best thing about this movie is the way director/star Albert Brooks blends his own unique style of humor with a deep underlying current of the father/son relationship and how psychological problems can effect and athlete's performance. There are some very big laughs as well as many scenes that are funny in an Albert Brooks sort of way; scenes that make you smile and chuckle rather than belly laugh. The best crafted scenes in the film however come from the way Steve Nebraska (Fraser) looks up to Al (Brooks) as the father figure he never had. Some of these scenes are very emotional and deeply touching as well.The only thing I didn't love about the movie is the ending. It's a little too neat and tidy for my taste, but let's face it Brooks is trying to make a funny and touching movie that makes you happy and uplifted when its over, and for that I say a good well done.

This movie is a hoot. If you want to sit down and be entertained and not run for the mute button if your grandkids come over, you'll love this flick.But not to worry, this is not a chick-flick, too many well baseball players. Good clean fun, except a few cuss words, but nothing the don't allow on broadcast television. A perfect 10 in the fluff category, and don't we all need a little of that once in a while! Cameos of such TV celebrity as Bob Costas, Joe Torrey and Ozzie Smith. It starts in New York and travels to Mexico and back to New York. No gratuitous sex scenes, but if you're a guy that loves baseball, you probably will forgive the film makers. Ben Hur and Lawrence of Arabia it's not but who cares, because if it makes me laugh and chuckle, I will always rate it a ten:)

I made the grievous error of seeing this movie in the theater. And it has been scorched into my memory as one of the worst I've ever seen. It was billed as a comedy, and I think I may have laughed once? Maybe? It was played as a drama, but without the drama. The ending was so anti-climactic and predictable as to have made the movie even worse than it already was. Brendan Frasier does his standard job of sub-standard acting playing the typical confused, out-of-place character he played in Encino Man, George of the Jungle, the Mummy series, etc. Making matters worse, the writers hint at a possible direction in the story that may make the movie interesting, and they simply drop it in the middle leaving you hanging, but not wanting more.Don't bother, it isn't worth the time.

"The Scout" is an underrated comedy, which though never quite hitting the heights gives good value in the funny-sentimental entertainment stakes and benefits from two excellent performances (Albert Brooks - in a role "Seinfeld"'s Jason Alexander would probably over-play on television - and Brendan Fraser). The hidden depths of the film - the young player's childhood "abuse" for instance - remain hidden (the movie seems shy about going there) but as old-style, far-fetched shtick the picture works very nicely.