THURSDAY,SEPT.27,2001
ENTERTAINMENT
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN - 3B
'Hardball' doesn't hit homer despite No.1 box office spot
Every season has its blockbuster and this fall's big movie is Hardball, which snagged No. 1 at the box office for the second straight week.
A lot of people,it seems.
Hardball's success might come as a surprise to some, but who can resist a movie with Keanu Reeves as a drunken gambler who coaches a baseball team of 9-year-olds in inner-city Chicago?
Hardball's spot atop the movie mountain is deceiving, considering it grossed a mere $8 million last week, bringing its two-week total to a whopping $19.3 million, which aren't exactly Titantic-like numbers.
Major studio releases have been delayed because of the terrorist attacks, and people just aren't going to the movies. Last week's No. 2 movie was Nicole Kidman's horror flick The Others ($5.1 million), which was released seven weeks ago.
The lack of choices for moviegoers has made Hardball Hollywood's hot commodity by default. Is Keanu up to the challenge?
Well, The Matrix alumnus doesn't stretch his acting ability the least. His laid-back, surfer dude persona is on full display, although he does try really hard to look stressed out at times.
He's a one-note actor, who is pretty much the same in all of his movies. Still, there's something undeniably likable about the guy.
Commentary
Brandon Stinnett
Movie Reviewer
jayplaykansan.com
As for the movie, Hardball doesn't hit a home run, or even a
ground-rule double.
Keanu stars as Conor O'Neill, a hard-drinking gambling addict who owes his bookies a lot more than he has. For $500 a week, a desperate Conor accepts a job as head coach of an inner-city baseball team comprised of foul-mouthed kids.
The players spend more time bickering with one another than playing baseball, but Conor predictably transforms them into a team good enough to challenge for the league championship.
Meanwhile, Conor battles his personal demons as he struggles to pay off debts and get a grip on
his life.
Watching the children interact with Conor and one another is fun, but there isn't enough of it. There isn't enough baseball, either, which is particularly disappointing since Hardball is advertised as a baseball movie.
Instead, too much time is devoted to Conor's gambling and drinking problems. Bookies lurk around dark street corners and routinely threaten bodily harm if Conor doesn't pay up. These scenes offer nothing compelling to the plot and take away from the real story about the baseball team.
At one point, a disgruntled bookie questions the motives behind Conor's commitment to the team.
Conor replies, "Don't talk down to me. You don't know (poop) about these kids."
The feeling's mutual.
Sinnett can be reached at 864-4810
HARDBALL
Great movie of the week: Field of Dreams. It's the pinnacle of all baseball movies and the highlight of Kevin Costner's acting career. Field of Dreams, which has been labeled the male tearjerker, is a delightful movie about following your dreams no matter how absurd. Although I'd never admit to crying during a movie, one can't help but feel emotional during the heartfelt ending.
'80s hit singer finds confidence, voice
Bad movie of the week: Twister. It ranks high on my list of all-time worst movies for two reasons. 1. There is absolutely no chemistry among any of the actors, making the already weak story intolerable. 2. The special effects are impressive, but they are completely unrealistic. A destructive F-5 tornado is able to demolish homes with ease, but it is no match for Helen Hunt and her pickup truck? Give me a break.
Personal losses give musician strength to start again
The Associated Press
SAN FRANCISCO — Three years ago, Suzanne Vega figured her musical career was over.
Her life was turned upside down after she divorced her husband, sold her house and fired her manager. And the folk singer, who burst onto the pop scene in 1987 with the mega-hit "Luka," a look at the world through the eyes of an abused boy, hadn't written a song in years.
"Everything went up in the air and everything that I had thought was stable in my life became unstable," she said. "I was kind of thinking, I'm in my early 40s. I've had a good, long career and maybe this is the time to wrap it up."
But with a little prodding from her bass player — who still had confidence in Vega's commercial appeal — she set out on a European tour and was astonished that people still wanted to hear what she had to say. Feeling newly secure, she started writing again — not only songs, but also a book of poems, The Passionate Eye: The Collected Writing of Suzanne Vega.
"I need a certain sense of
rhythm in my life to really be creative," she said. "I'm not one of those people who really thrives on chaos. It really helps me to have a certain kind of stable place."
Tuesday, she released her first album in five years, Songs in Red and Gray. For Vega, it marks a return to raw, acoustic sound that is her strength.
"It still boils down to her and her guitar. That's the essence of her art—her voice, her lyrics and her guitar," said her bassist of 15 years, Mike Visceglia. "And it works really well because you can get close to Suzanne in a way people haven't been able to in a very long time."
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