Trouble with the Curve
Aging baseball scout Gus (Clint Eastwood) is given one last chance to prove his worth. His boss and friend Pete (John Goodman) is not only fighting for Gus but also to avoid losing his own job to a young, ambitious Philip. Worried about Gus’ health Pete contacts Gus’s daughter Mickey (Amy Adams), a workaholic, to join her father. Even as Gus works on his relation with Mickey, they also evaluate a baseball player Bo. They feel Bo is not up to the mark and instead suggest an unknown Rigo but Philip disagrees. After some try-outs, general manager Vince and the staff realise that they were wrong about Gus and sign on Rigo. When Philip makes a snide remark about Gus, Vince fires him and gives Gus a contract extension. Watch ‘Clint Eastwood’s grizzled charisma’.
The Descendants
The film won an Academy Award for screenplay and two Golden Globe Awards for Best Picture and Best Actor. Matt (George Clooney) is trustee of a massive property which he is being pressured to sell by his spendthrift cousins. After Matt’s wife Elizabeth slips in to coma, he is forced to cope with his two troubled daughters 10-year-old Scottie (Amara Miller) and 17-year-old Alex (Shailene Woodley) who has a history of substance abuse. Alex reveals that Elizabeth had an affair with Brian, so Matt gives Brian a chance to bid Elizabeth goodbye but Brian says he was just having a fling. When Elizabeth is dying, her father admonishes Matt for being a bad husband but Alex and her friend Sid defend Matt. Later accompanied by his daughters, Matt scatters Elizabeth’s ashes in the ocean.
I Am Sam
A man with a developmental disability, Sam (Sean Penn), is the single father of Lucy (Dakota Fanning), after her mother leaves them. Despite his limitations, Sam takes care of Lucy. After a few years, other children tease Lucy for having a ‘retard’ as a father. Due to circumstances, Sam is forced to prepare for a custody case after a social worker takes away Lucy and he is allowed only two supervised visits per week. Sam approaches a lawyer Rita (Michelle Pfeiffer) whose own difficult personal life gives her a reputation of being cold. To prove that she is not heartless, Rita takes on Sam’s case. As they work to secure Sam’s parental rights, Sam helps Rita sort out her personal problems. After the trial, Lucy is allowed to be with Sam.
Father of the Bride
This comedy film, which is listed among the ‘100 Funniest Movies’, earned over four times its budget and spawned a sequel. George (Steve Martin) has a 22-year-old daughter Annie (Kimberly Williams) who informs him that she has decided to marry Bryan whom she loves. The warm reunion turns into a heated argument between George and Annie, but they reconcile. Bryan is rich and has a likeable demeanour but George dislikes him and cannot accept him as a son-in-law. The wedding is fixed but certain instances affect George, resulting in many misadventures. Seeing Bryan’s genuine love for Annie and after he realises that his happiness lies in his daughter’s happiness, George has a change of heart and the wedding goes off well.
Paper Moon
After a woman he has known dies, con man Moses (Ryan O’Neal) meets her nine-year-old daughter Addie (Tatum O’Neal) who he suspects is his daughter. Moses is to take Addie to her aunt’s home. Moses cheats widowed women, claiming that their husbands owe him some money for an expensive, personalised Bible and the widows usually pay him the balance amount. As his ‘daughter’, Addie joins in the scam and Addie and ‘Moze’ start bonding. On one occasion, Addie has her photo taken sitting on a paper moon at the carnival. Moses leaves Addie at her aunt’s house, but she opts to rejoin him. Tatum O’Neal won an Academy Award for /er performance.
