Playing Conor O'Neill, a washed up nobody who smokes too many cigarettes and has a serious gambling addiction, Keanu Reeves is the undisputed star of Hardball.
Hardball is a 2001 American sports drama film directed by Brian Robbins and starring Keanu Reeves, Diane Lane and D. B. Sweeney. The screenplay by John Gatins is based on the book Hardball: A Season in the Projects by Daniel Coyle. The original music score is composed by Mark Isham.
Seen in the not-particularly-memorable role of Clarence, Kris D. Lofton is another actor who got his start in Hardball. Unlike the majority of his teammates, however, he went on to enjoy a certain level of success in his acting career — though nowhere near that of Michael B. Jordan's.
Released in 2001, the sports comedy-drama Hardball wasn't received particularly well by critics. Robert Koehler of Variety wrote that "there's no cork inside Hardball, but there's more than enough corn," while Moira Macdonald of the Seattle Times claimed the Brian Robbins-directed film is "just dreadful."
Based on Daniel Coyle's book about a magazine editor coaching a youth team in Chicago's Cabrini-Green projects, the film takes a true story and drags it through a swamp of hyped-up Hollywood cliches. Reeves plays Conor O'Neill — not an editor, but a gambler in debt for $12,000.
Lofton — Clarence. Seen in the not-particularly-memorable role of Clarence, Kris D. Lofton is another actor who got his start in Hardball. Unlike the majority of his teammates, however, he went on to enjoy a certain level of success in his acting career — though nowhere near that of Michael B.
Just after Conor drops the kids off at home after winning the pre-championship game, G-Baby is struck and killed by a stray bullet and Kofi has to hold him as he dies.
About 30 years (1992)DeWayne Warren / Age
Act aggressively and ruthlessly, as in It's only a month before the election, and I'm sure they'll start to play hardball. This term originated in baseball, where it alludes to using the standard ball as opposed to the slightly larger and minimally softer ball of softball.
But is it just us, or does it seem like the actor who played G-baby, Dewayne Warren, dropped off the Earth after starring in the classic film? Well, fortunately for us, he didn't — and he's alive and well on Instagram.
Hard Ball2001About The PeopleOrange DriveРрржжжжакаSteelo Brim/Movies
Production. "Hardball" was filmed from August 7th to October of 2000. The filming locations took place in Chicago, Illinois and Detroit, Michigan.
DeWayne WarrenDeWayne Warren was born in 1992. He is an actor, known for Hardball (2001), La Femme Vampir (2009) ...
DeWayne WarrenDeWayne Warren: Jarius 'G-Baby' Evans Jump to: Photos (3) Quotes (2)
Hardball is a 2001 American sports comedy-drama film directed by Brian Robbins and starring Keanu Reeves , Diane Lane and D. B. Sweeney. The screenplay by John Gatins is based on the book Hardball: A Season in the Projects by Daniel Coyle. The original music score is composed by Mark Isham.
B. Sweeney. The screenplay by John Gatins is based on the book Hardball: A Season in the Projects by Daniel Coyle. The original music score is composed by Mark Isham.
Soundtrack. Main article: Hardball (soundtrack) A soundtrack containing hip hop and R&B music was released on September 11, 2001 by Columbia Records. It peaked at #55 on the Billboard 200 and #34 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums .
Plot. Conor O'Neill ( Keanu Reeves) is a gambler who secretly bets $6,000 on his dead father's account and is now severely in debt with two bookies. In order to repay the debts, he is told by a corporate friend that he must coach a baseball team of troubled African-American fifth grade kids from Chicago's ABLA housing projects in exchange ...
Conor takes offense to the league president's threat to be removed, after he voices his objection to his team having to wear ratty T-shirts while the other teams have full uniforms. In protest, he announces it was his last game which draws dissension and resentment from his players.
Bright, educated, handsome Conor O'Neill's promising future was wrecked by his gambling addiction, which dragged him into heavy drinking and petty crime, but worst of all, the stifling grip of loan-shark bookies. Desperate for a loan, he agrees to stand in for lawyer friend Jimmy Fleming as coach of a Chicago ghetto Little League baseball team.
Before the film was released in 2001, posters and ads reflected the rating as R before it was re-edited to dub over the kids using the "f" word. Despite quite a bit of profanity remaining, the film was then released with a PG-13 rating.
Playing Conor O'Neill, a washed up nobody who smokes too many cigarettes and has a serious gambling addiction, Keanu Reeves is the undisputed star of Hardball. In the span of 106 minutes, we watch Reeves evolve from a broke loser who can't even find a pair of correctly-sized slacks to a clean-cut hero who permanently alters the lives of ten inner-city children. It's heartwarming, really.
After Hardball, actor DeWayne Warren only appeared in La Femme Vampir and its sequel, La Femme Vampir 2.
Rather, the character of Jamal serves as an example of what can happen when children in the inner-city projects aren't allowed to play. (They turn to gangs.) Unlike the rest of the team who actually met the league's age requirements, Jordan really took off after Hardball 's credits rolled.
Released in 2001, the sports comedy-drama Hardball wasn't received particularly well by critics. Robert Koehler of Variety wrote that "there's no cork inside Hardball, but there's more than enough corn," while Moira Macdonald of the Seattle Times claimed the Brian Robbins-directed film is "just dreadful.".
John Hawkes — Ticky Tobin. Getty Images. Don't be fooled by his unimpressive supporting role as the sketchy ticket-hawking gambler Ticky Tobin in Hardball — John Hawkes is arguably the film's most accomplished actor, albeit not its most famous.
Hawkes is easily recognized from his role as the merchant Sol Star in the HBO hit Western series Deadwood, but his most noteworthy performance is arguably that of meth addict Teardrop Dolly in Winter's Bone, which earned him an Academy Award Nomination for Best Supporting Actor.
Playing the angry-at-life but baseball-loving Kofi Evans, Michael Perkins undoubtedly gave one of the most memorable and emotional performances in Hardball. Surprisingly, that was the only memorable performance he's given to date. After Hardball, Perkins pursued other opportunities, taking a 15-year hiatus from acting.
Before I start talking about Hardball, I want to correct one mistake I made when discussing The Replacements last week. I had meant to give the film credit for its positive portrayal of a deaf man who was still really good at sports.
After watching The Replacements last week, I realized there was still at least one baseball movie that I had initially planned to watch for this series and had forgotten until last week since both movies star Keanu Reeves. I remember seeing this movie in theaters when I was a kid, and I remember hating it.
Although Hardball contains some touching moments, they are not enough to transcend the sports formula. Read critic reviews
Conor (Keanu Reeves) is a ticket scalper, gambler and, now, Little League coach for a rag-tag team of kids in one of the toughest part of Chicago. He's no role model, but his buddy Jimmy won't help him pay off his gambling debts unless Conor coaches Jimmy's corporately sponsored team.
The percentage of Approved Tomatometer Critics who have given this movie a positive review.