HardballMovie Reviews

Poster art for "Hardball."

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Avg. Critic Score: 48 out of 100 Mixed or average reviews Metascore® based on all critic reviews
Information for Parents:
13 Iffy for 13+
Read Common Sense Media review

Critic scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

  • 80
    Los Angeles Times | Kevin Thomas

    A surefire heart-tugger made with skill and judgment, affords Keanu Reeves a career high point. Read full review

  • 70
    Washington Post | Michael O'Sullivan

    Surprisingly brusque yet likable film. Read full review

  • 70
    The New York Times | Stephen Holden

    Its uplifting message about teamwork and caring wouldn't hurt a fly. You might even say, the movie is good for you. Read full review

  • 63
    Chicago Sun-Times | Roger Ebert

    It drifts above the surface of its natural subjects, content to be a genre picture. We're always aware of the formula--and in a picture based on real life, we shouldn't be. Read full review

  • 63
    USA Today | Claudia Puig

    Those who were upset by the tragic ending of last year's "Pay It Forward" should be warned away. Read full review

  • 60
    Washington Post |

    It is only when Reeves meets up with his incredibly cute baseball team that this movie comes to life. Read full review

  • 50
    San Francisco Chronicle | Bob Graham

    Hardball works where it counts, on the emotional level. Read full review

  • 40
    Variety | Robert Koehler

    There's no cork inside Hardball, but there's more than enough corn. Everything about the movie is geared for maximum uplifting and tear-jerking effect, and seems designed, in the end, to question the old saw that there's no crying in baseball. Read full review

  • 25
    Entertainment Weekly | Lisa Schwarzbaum

    The movie is so littered with clichés of genre, as well as clichés of artifice in Reeves' pained performance, that any semblance of social reality goes foul. Read full review

  • 10
    Rolling Stone | Peter Travers

    The film takes a true story and drags it through a swamp of hyped-up Hollywood cliches. Read full review

View more reviews for Hardball on Metacritic

Information for Parents
Common Sense Media says Iffy for 13+ This umpire calls Hardball out at first base.
What Parents Need to Know Parents need to know that this movie includes very strong language, including many four-letter words used by children. The boys are surrounded by drug use and gang violence. They can identify the weapon by the sound of the shooting and take it for granted that they must sit on the floor to be out of the way of gunfire that might come in the window. One child is badly beaten and another is killed. Also, this film was originally intended to be released as an R, due to the language used by the children. The producers argued that it was an authentic portrayal of the urban setting. Protests during the filming, and, more significantly, marketing concerns about whether the audience really wanted an R-rated movie about a little league team, led them to cut some of the worst language to obtain a PG-13 rating. Yet the movie still has some material, including the gang shooting of a child, that is far more likely to be upsetting to younger audiences than a few four-letter words.
  • Families can talk about how the children helped Conor realize that he needed to make some changes. Why was it important that Conor made a rule that the players could not insult each other? What did Conor learn from G-Baby? What do you think will happen to the members of the team when they get too old to play in the league?
What to watch for
  • violence false3 Violence: Child shot and killed, another child badly beaten, gang violence.
  • sex false0 Sex: Not an issue
  • language false4 Language: Very strong language, most of it used by children.
  • consumerism false0 Consumerism: Not an issue
  • drugsalcoholtobacco false3 Drinking, drugs and smoking: Drug use, scenes in bar, drinking, smoking.
An independent nonprofit dedicated to providing families the information they need to help kids thrive in a world of media and technology. © Common Sense Media Inc. 2010. All rights reserved.

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