The Phenom

It's a movie about a kid who loved playing baseball. He worked really hard everyday to get better and better at the game, then suddenly one day he discovers he is better than everybody else. So, what now?

Everybody expects something of him. His team expects him to throw 100mph fastballs into the strike zone game after game. His coach expects him to stay out of trouble. His teacher expects him finish school. His dad expects him to not get lazy and waste his talent. His girlfriend expects him to be just a normal guy who she can talk to and relate to and be best friends with. And his shrink expects him to accept his talent.

Would I recommend you to watch this movie?

Yes. Although most of us can't throw 100mph fastballs, but if you can just suspend belief for a moment and put yourself into his shoes, you will find a very well written story about a working class kid working hard and making a success of himself.

No. If you go into this thinking "he's making $$$ millions, what's he got to complain about?" or "he's naturally talented, why everybody want to drag him down?" Then you are better off watching something else.

I watched this movie because it's a baseball movie, and because Paul Giamatti is in it. Script? Sorry to report this, but the writing is BAD. The script--- the words these actors are forced to say as the camera rolls---are not believable. They don't sound like things real people in real life would say. And there's too many of them. Way too many. Result? BORING. Where's some action? ANY action? The baseball scenes add up to about 90 seconds total. Ethan Hawke's character? The mean father? So over the top it is, again, completely unconvincing and irritating. And there's no ending, really. Whoever wrote this....ughh. To pour salt in the wound, the soundtrack sucked. You don't have a noisy rock song with LOUD SINGING playing under a major speech from one of the characters. There should be an instrumental, or no music at all, as the character is screaming at another character. So to sum it up in one word, "The Phenom" is a PHLOP.

As my first experience with a film from writer/director Noah Buschel, I worry that his five earlier efforts also exhibit a sore lack of editing. Did not spot any editor credit (other than that of an assistant or something) and believe Noah Buschel handled it himself. He seems unable to discard anything he films (a lesson all great directors learn to do). Cast is fine, but scenes don't join together for a unified whole and often reach points of stagnation as well as present conflicts of information.

This film tells the story of a young baseball player in high school, who loses his pitch and hence worries about his potential future as a professional player. He enlists a sports psychologist to help him through the difficult times.

I had no idea what the film before watching the film, as the title doesn't give anything away. Honestly, I have no idea what the film is about after watching it either. The beginning looks promising, as the door psychologist talks with the young athlete. Then, it gets downhill and have no clear focus. I don't know whether it wants to talk about the father, the psychologist or what. I get so lost in the half developed plot, where subplots are underdeveloped. And the ending is so abrupt that the story is literally unfinished. I regret having watched this film because I think I wasted my time.

I probably wouldn't have lasted through this - had one of my favourite AFL players not recently retired at just age 23, citing mental health issues. There are definitely some parallels here.

Beyond that, "The Phenom" is a frustrating film to watch.

Ethan Hawke successfully portrays one of the most unlikeable guys I've seen on film in ages.

Paul Giamatti also puts in a great performance as a sports psychologist. The back and forward emotional banter between Giamatti and Simmons is in a very similar vein to that of Damon and Williams in "Good Will Hunting" - just without the Oscar-worthiness.

Johnny Simmons is convincing as the somewhat of an asshole but emotionally vulnerable sports star.

None of it seemed to tie together though and the film just went nowhere. It never succeeded as anything more than being a fly-on-the-wall look at a young talented sportsman with emotional difficulties. I also agree with many other viewers, that found the ending abrupt and poorly written.