Trouble with the Curve (2012)

Director:

Robert Lorenz

Writer (WGA):

Randy Brown (written by)

Release Date:

21 September 2012 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Sport

Tagline:

Whatever Life Throws at You

Plot:

An ailing baseball scout in his twilight years takes his daughter along for one last recruiting trip.

Plot Keywords:

Baseball | Baseball Scout | North Carolina | Basketball | Baseball Star

Awards:

2 wins

Cast

Clint Eastwood	...	Gus
Chelcie Ross	...	Smitty
Raymond Anthony Thomas	...	Lucious
Ed Lauter	...	Max
Amy Adams	...	Mickey
Clifton Guterman	...	Neil
Carla Fisher	...	Law Receptionist
George Wyner	...	Rosenbloom
Bob Gunton	...	Watson
Jack Gilpin	...	Schwartz
Matthew Lillard	...	Phillip Sanderson
Robert Patrick	...	Vince
John Goodman	...	Pete Klein
Nathan Wright	...	Drunk Fan
Scott Eastwood	...	Billy Clark
Matt Bush	...	Danny
Justin Timberlake	...	Johnny
Sam Collins	...	Kid #1
Chandler George Brown	...	Kid #2
Louis Fox	...	Lloyd
Ricky Muse	...	Jimmy
Tom Dreesen	...	Rock
Don Young	...	Regular #1
Leon Lamar	...	Regular #2
Julia Walters	...	Young Mickey
Peter Hermann	...	Greg
Dane Davenport	...	Waiter #1
Eric Mendenhall	...	Waiter #2
James Patrick Freetly	...	Todd
Norma Alvarez	...	Grace Sanchez
Tyler Silva	...	Carlos Sanchez
Jay Galloway	...	Rigo Sanchez
Melissa Lorenz	...	Mom in Diner
Jack Lorenz	...	Boy in Diner
Rory Lorenz	...	Girl in Diner
Dave Cohen	...	Announcer #1
Joe Massingill	...	Bo Gentry
Seth Meriwether	...	Wilson
Kenny Alfonso	...	Umpire
Josh Warren	...	Pitcher
Clayton Landey	...	Manager
Matthew Brady	...	Swannanoa Manager (as Matt Brady)
Bart Hansard	...	Bo's Father
Ryan Patrick Williams	...	Grizzly Player #1
Xavier Floyd	...	Grizzly Player #2
Rus Blackwell	...	Rick
Brian F. Durkin	...	Matt Nelson
Darren Le Gallo	...	Nurse
Sammy Blue	...	Musician
Patricia French	...	Diner Waitress
Jackie Prucha	...	Secretary
Rhubarb Jones	...	Announcer #2
Scott Estep	...	Umpire
Tom Nowicki	...	Red Sox GM
Jason Gondek	...	Red Sox Exec
Bud Selig	...	Himself
Mark Thomason	...	Braves Official
Cara Mantella	...	Assistant
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Lisa M. Barfield	...	Baseball Fan
Karen Ceesay	...	Carol
Hunter Clowdus	...	Yoga Student
Christopher Cozort	...	Baseball Fan
Rob Crowe	...	Channel 9 News Team
Derek Ryan Duke	...	Baseball Fan
Jon Gould	...	Baseball Fan
Anthony B. Harris	...	Baseball Game Attendee
Kevin Harrison	...	Young Gus
Walter Hendrix III	...	Baseball Fan (as Walter Hendrix)
Greg Hendrix	...	Baseball Player
Lauren Henneberg	...	Baseball Fan
Cal Johnson	...	Maintenance Man
Ken Melde	...	Yankee's Scout
Arlin Miller	...	Stadium Announcer
Thad Morris	...	Braves Executive #1
Michele Nichols	...	Baseball Fan
Braeden Orr	...	Boston College Fan
Wayne Packer	...	Sports Reporter
Courtney Patterson	...	Waitress
Keith Ratchek	...	Baseball Scout
Keith Ratchek	...	Scout #1
Joel Rogers	...	Silver Skillet Patron / Baseball Fan
Valeri Rogers	...	Cute Girl #1
Harley Shellhammer	...	Baseball Scout
Natalie Shepherd	...	Baseball Fan
Erik Thirsk	...	Red Sox Executive
Corey A. Thrush	...	Georgia Tech Baseball Player
Bob Wannamaker	...	Bar Patron
Millie Wannamaker	...	Baseball Fan / Diner Patron
Elizabeth Warren	...	Baseball Fan
Lou Wegner	...	Teen Baseball Fan
Danny Williams	...	Danny #45
Terry Wilson	...	Baseball Fan
David Alexander	...	Atlanta Braves Scout (uncredited)
Jennifer Baskette-Ridings	...	News Reporter (uncredited)
Christian Higgins	...	Driver (uncredited)
Mary Ellen Itson	...	Baseball Fan (uncredited)
Dennis Layden	...	Pedestrian (uncredited)
Stephen M. Phillips	...	Baseball Fan (uncredited)
Joe Warshaw	...	Baseball Fan (uncredited)
Christina Michelle Williams	...	Baseball Fan (uncredited)
Jacqueline Marie Zwick	...	Yoga Student (uncredited)

Directed by
Robert Lorenz

Writing credits (WGA)
Randy Brown		(written by)

Produced by
Clint Eastwood	....	producer
Robert Lorenz	....	producer
Tim Moore	....	executive producer
Michele Weisler	....	producer

Original Music by
Marco Beltrami

Cinematography by
Tom Stern		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Joel Cox
Gary Roach

Casting by
Geoffrey Miclat

Production Design by
James J. Murakami

Art Direction by
Patrick M. Sullivan Jr.

Set Decoration by
Gary Fettis

Makeup Department
Luisa Abel	....	makeup department head
Patricia Dehaney-Le May	....	hair department head
Tracy Ewell	....	makeup artist
Tracey L. Miller-Smith	....	makeup artist (as Tracey L. Miller)
Michelle Vittone	....	makeup artist: Justin Timberlake
Jay Wejebe	....	key makeup artist

Production Management
Tim Moore	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
David M. Bernstein	....	first assistant director
Paula Case	....	second assistant director
Simeon Jones	....	additional second assistant director
Cody Williams	....	second second assistant director

Art Department
Taylor Bennett	....	scenic gang boss (as Franklin T. Bennett)
Danny Brown	....	set designer
Matthew Butler	....	key greens foreman
Anthony Carlino	....	leadman
Harris Forman	....	set designer
Daniel B. Foster	....	set dresser
Seth Gardner	....	propmaker
Lucas Godfrey	....	set dresser
Nelson Hagood	....	additional set dresser
Rob Hamby	....	propmaker
Cindy Ichikawa	....	art department coordinator
Alphonse A. Lambert Jr.	....	carpenter
Amy Lehman	....	set decorating coordinator
Eliot Levin	....	props assistant
Konrad Lewis	....	on-set dresser
Chuck McCourt	....	set dresser
John Micheletos	....	set dresser buyer
Ruth Mitchell	....	scenic artist
Michael Muscarella	....	construction coordinator
Rudy Oblak	....	construction assistant
Neil Palmer	....	foreman
Neil Palmer	....	labor foreman
Brandon Pope	....	greens gangboss
Kenny Sanford	....	general foreman
Joey Sisson	....	set dresser
Shea Soutar	....	standby painter
Steven Tolbert	....	art department production assistant
Lisa Yeiser	....	graphic designer

Sound Department
James Ashwill	....	foley mixer
Bub Asman	....	supervising sound editor
Michael Babcock	....	sound effects editor
Gail Carroll-Coe	....	boom operator
William Cawley	....	assistant sound editor
Blake Collins	....	foley mixer
Greg Crawford	....	adr mixer: Atlanta
John T. Cucci	....	foley artist
Michael Dressel	....	supervising foley editor
Susan Dudeck	....	dialogue editor
Christopher Flick	....	foley editor
Jonathan Fuh	....	boom operator
Jonathan Jory	....	adr mixer: Atlanta
Jason King	....	sound effects editor
Walt Martin	....	sound mixer
Ryan Murphy	....	sound mix technician
Alan Robert Murray	....	supervising sound editor
Kevin Murray	....	assistant sound editor
Dan O'Connell	....	foley artist
Eric Potter	....	location sound effects mixer
James Simcik	....	adr supervisor
Karen Spangenberg	....	adr editor
Katy Wood	....	supervising dialog editor
Ryan Young	....	adr recordist

Special Effects by
Steve Riley	....	special effects supervisor
Dominic V. Ruiz	....	special effects

Visual Effects by
Phillip Feiner	....	visual effects supervisor
Samuel P. Larson	....	compositor
Darin McCormick-Millett	....	visual effects producer
Michael Owens	....	visual effects supervisor
Liz Radley	....	video & computer graphics supervisor
Brad Sutton	....	digital restoration
Wilson Tang	....	digital restoration

Stunts
Alex Duke	....	stunt double
Cal Johnson	....	stunt performer

Camera and Electrical Department
Brian Adams	....	electrician
Keith Bernstein	....	still photographer
Hugh Braselton	....	second assistant camera
Greg Brooks	....	dolly grip
Buzzy Burwell	....	lighting technician
Stephen S. Campanelli	....	camera operator
Trevor Carroll-Coe	....	film loader
Cristen Clark	....	electrician: day player
Catherine Cravens	....	company set electric
Stephen Crowley	....	rigging gaffer
Dhamarata Dhiensuwana	....	key rigging grip
Ross Dunkerley	....	gaffer
Danny Eckler	....	dolly grip: "b" camera
Sean Engel	....	electrician
Mike Gentry	....	electrician
Ben D. Griffith Jr.	....	best boy grip
John Grubb	....	grip
Francis Harlan	....	grip
Michael D. Kennedy	....	scorpio head technician
Patrick King	....	electrician
John Lacy	....	best boy electric
Mike Laird	....	rigging electric
Bobby McMahan	....	second assistant camera
Guy Micheletti	....	key grip
Brian Minzlaff	....	set lighting technician
Conrad Mizzell	....	electrician
Greg Morse	....	24 frame video operator
Christopher E. Pettus	....	electrician
Allen Christopher Robinson	....	electric: day player
Kevin M. Rowe	....	day player: grip
Tim Ryan	....	electrician
Mike Satrazemis	....	camera operator: "b" camera
Thom Shepard	....	grip
Alan B. Wright	....	video assist
Nick Zeigler	....	lighting technician

Casting Department
Janella Bersabal	....	extras casting
Barbara Harris	....	adr voice casting
John McAlary	....	casting associate
Eve Streger	....	casting assistant

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Cha Blevins	....	costume supervisor
Maria Bradley	....	costumer: prep
Corey Bronson	....	set costumer
April Brown	....	costume production assistant
Chris Burns	....	baseball costumer
Bren Cook	....	ager/dyer
Brittany Dier	....	costume assistant
Mitchell Ray Kenney	....	key costumer
Erinn Knight	....	shopper
Branden Marks	....	baseball costumer
Kendra L. Patterson	....	additional costumer
Sherrie Peterson	....	set costumer
Margaret Robbs	....	costume shopper
Heather Sease	....	costumer
Jack Taggart	....	head ager/dyer
Myra N. Foy	....	seamstress (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Jill Bogdanowicz	....	digital film colorist
David S. Cox	....	assistant editor (as David Cox)
Blu Murray	....	first assistant editor
Bob Peishel	....	digital intermediate producer
Mark Sahagun	....	digital intermediate editor
Lee Wimer	....	color timer
Darin Wooldridge	....	home video mastering colorist

Music Department
Pete Anthony	....	conductor
Pete Anthony	....	orchestrator
George Doering	....	musician
Rossano Galante	....	orchestrator
Jim Honeyman	....	orchestrator
Chris McGeary	....	supervising music editor
Victor Pesavento	....	music preparation
Peter Rotter	....	orchestra contractor
Buck Sanders	....	score producer
Andrew Synowiec	....	musician

Transportation Department
Tony Barattini	....	production van driver operator
Tim Barker	....	transportation
Robert Brubaker	....	local transportation captain
Arthur C. Chesser	....	driver
Linda 'Lil' Johnston	....	driver
Cody Lies	....	generator operator/driver
Anthony J. Mignano	....	driver
Kirk Roberts	....	driver: Clint Eastwood
Vickie Raynor Robison	....	driver: John Goodman
Randy Southerland	....	driver
Alana Stelling	....	transportation captain
Larry Stelling	....	transportation coordinator
Timothy Stephens	....	driver: honeywagon
Hank Van Apeldoorn	....	driver
Susan Van Apeldoorn	....	driver

Other crew
Corey Brinn	....	baseball coordinator assistant
Shelby Davis	....	additional craft service
Tony X. Deale	....	assistant to executive producer
Jessica Drake	....	dialect coach: prep
Christopher Flippo	....	production assistant
Juls Gabsa	....	assistant to cast
Allen Gerbino	....	underwater film stage provider
Corey Gilbert	....	assistant location manager
Corey Gilbert	....	key assistant location manager
Larry Gilbert	....	police security
Drew Giles	....	key stand-in
Kristin Gomez	....	first assistant accountant
Jason Gondek	....	production accountant
Stella L. Holmes	....	set production assistant
Jennifer Hunt	....	payroll accountant
Michelle Johnson	....	assistant: ms. weisler
Andrew C. Kirk	....	on-set assistant location manager
Kristin Kulyniak Deale	....	production secretary
Madison Lacerte	....	office production assistant
Austin Lapierre	....	assistant production coordinator
Aimee McDaniel	....	baseball coordinator
Patrick Mignano	....	location manager
Les Morgan	....	additional set production assistant
Taryn Nagle	....	base camp production assistant
Steve Olivera	....	assistant payroll accountant
Vincent Parker	....	computer playback graphics
Andrew Paulson	....	second assistant accountant
Jennifer Pedevilla	....	payroll accountant
Jon Privett	....	additional craft service
Morgan Riley	....	accounting clerk
Robert Severance	....	police security
Michael C. Smith	....	police coordinator
John Alexander Stern	....	production assistant (as John Stern)
Stan Swofford	....	medic coordinator
Landon Trawny	....	second assistant accountant

Thanks
Xavier Collin	....	thanks

Production Companies

• Warner Bros (presents)
• Malpaso Productions (as Malpaso)

Distributors

• Columbia TriStar Warner Filmes de Portugal (2012) (Portugal) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros (2012) (USA) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. Entertainment (2012) (Canada) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. (2012) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. (2012) (France) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. (2012) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. (2012) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. (2012) (Singapore) (theatrical)
• Warner Home Video (2013) (Germany) (DVD)

Other Companies

• BT Industrial Supply  expendables
• Chapman/Leonard Studio Equipment  camera car
• Chapman/Leonard Studio Equipment  camera cranes
• Chapman/Leonard Studio Equipment  camera dollies
• Designer Wardrobe Trailers  wardrobe trailer
• Dolby Laboratories  sound mix
• Harris Diversified  a/c & power rental
• Hertz Entertainment Services  equipment rentals
• Lightnin' Production Rentals  transportation equipment
• PJF Productions  titles by
• PJF Productions  visual effects
• Panavision Remote Systems  Supertechno Cranes and Scorpio Stabilized Remote Heads
• Varèse Sarabande  soundtrack

Also Known As:

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for language, sexual references, some thematic material and smoking

Runtime:

111 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | Datasat | SDDS

Certification:

USA:PG-13 (certificate #47821) | UK:12A | Ireland:12A | Canada:PG (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Ontario) | Netherlands:6 | Canada:G (Quebec) | Singapore:PG13 | Japan:G | South Korea:12 | India:U/A | Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud) | Philippines:PG-13 | Portugal:M/12 | Germany:6

Filming Locations:

Jasper, Georgia, USA

Company:

Warner Bros

Trivia:

The name of Clint Eastwood's old baseball team is the Atlanta Braves.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Mickey enters the smokey kitchen, she opens both windows to the same level as the blinds. As the scene ends and Mickey is walking out, there is a shot of Gus standing in the kitchen door with the windows behind him. The windows are now several inches below the level of the blinds.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Gus:[at the toilet] Okay, come on now. Come on, boy. Let's not take your sweet-ass time about this. Jesus. Okay, that's it... Ah, good. Don't laugh, I outlived you, you little bastard.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Animal Practice: Turkey Jerky (#1.9)" (2012)

Soundtrack:

Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress

A possible pioneer

It pains me to say that I've already heard many people say they will not be seeing Trouble with the Curve because of Clint Eastwood's "antics" at the Republican National Convention just a few weeks ago. Their loss. Not being able to separate the man from the actor is something that took me a while to do, but the way some do it now is childish and immature. I wonder if those same people knew Eastwood was a Libertarian/Republican when he was playing "Dirty Harry." Hard to believe it has been nineteen years since Eastwood himself acted in a film he has not directed. He lends the camera to Robert Lorenz, who assisted him in directing much of Eastwood's filmography, including Flags of Our Fathers and the acclaimed Best Picture winner Million Dollar Baby. Lorenz's captures screenwriter Randy Brown's simple but uplifting, intimate story of a man's devotion to a game and his brewing reconnection with his daughter he seemingly abandoned at a young age.

I'll catch you up; Eastwood plays Gus Lobel, an elderly scout for the Atlanta Braves baseball team, who is becoming increasingly frail and ill-equipped with deteriorating eyesight. The Braves are losing faith in Gus's abilities, because in recent years, baseball has been run more by computer predictions and online statistics rather than physically sitting in the stands and scouting. Gus doesn't hold back on his hatred for computers, making them sound like limited fossils and being unable to predict more detailed outcomes. One wonders if he is mindlessly ranting or wouldn't even like a computer if he knew how to use one.

Pete, played by John Goodman, on a roll now with winning films, is Gus's close friend who is convincing the Braves' organization that despite Gus's poor eyesight, that he is an invaluable asset and needs to stay. He recruits Gus's daughter, Mickey (Amy Adams), to assist him in scouting a young prodigy in North Carolina, who currently plays for a high school team. Mickey's mother died when she was young and shortly after, Gus sent her to live with relatives whom she barely knew. During the scouting trip, Mickey winds up meeting one of Gus's friends whom he used to scout back in the day, named Johnny "The Flame" Flanagan (Justin Timberlake), for his one-hundred mile-an-hour fastball. We can see where this is headed.

We can see where much of the film is headed throughout its runtime but it's scarcely a burden because the warmth and bold character study on three of 2012's most interesting characters is a soothing and efficient one. Eastwood turns in the racism and foul rants he expertly utilized in Gran Torino for some nuanced anger as Gus, and as always, comes off as charismatic and effortlessly likable. Amy Adams does some fine work here, showing us that she is an up-and-coming female actress that is going under the radar, somewhat like Emily Blunt, and fearlessly plays the role of a woman in desperate need of answers, which her father will not give her. And Justin Timberlake continues to show is versatility and heart playing a totally different character from his last one and hitting every note properly.

It would appear that screenwriter Aaron Sorkin could have possibly started a new trend with sports films that was seldom seen before his film Moneyball, and that trend is centering a story around a sport but making the center the characters and not the on-field theatrics. Never are we truly consumed in the story of this young scouter, but we shouldn't be. And never were we truly gripped by the Oakland Athletics players in Moneyball - mainly because we never saw them play or were even formally acquainted with them. Both films center around the same sport, but ones' agenda is to show the gritter business side of baseball, while the other is the story of a father and daughter reconnecting with the sport in the foreground. With both films, it's needless to say, I'm all for this brewing trend.

Starring: Clint Eastwood, Amy Adams, Justin Timberlake, Matthew Lillard, and John Goodman. Directed by: Robert Lorenz.