"HARDBALL" is one of those films that looks like any other sports comedy about kids giving an adult coach a hard time, and that's why it's such a pleasant surprise!  It actually has a lot more heart and earnestness than one would expect.

Based on a true story, Keanu Reeves gives a decent performance as a scalper facing darker times than usual.  He's deep into debt with bookies and after swallowing his pride and asking a friend for a loan, he gets turned down. However, his friend offers him a job as a little league coach for a small weekly salary.  If his life wasn't depressing enough, now he's got to work with the most dysfunctional kids he's met, all from the Chicago projects.  Somehow, the act of helping these kids overcome their obstacles, he manages to learn how to deal with his own.  It's not corny as much as it is sobering.  This is a well-crafted film and deserves to be seen.  The supporting cast, including Diane Lane as the kids' teacher and Reeves' potential girlfriend, is always a pleasure to watch, but she's not used enough here and that's unfortunate.

PARAMOUNT has preserved the film's 1.85:1 aspect ratio with 16:9 enhancement.  The colors are extremely sharp and while it benefits most of the film, it actually seems off-the-mark during some of the scenes taking place in the projects. The contrast is excellent, with deep blacks and grays. Fleshtones appear natural throughout.

The Dolby Digital 5.1 mix is aggressive. Whether its used for atmospheric sounds of the street or dramatic punch, there are plenty of sweeping directional effects from the surrounds and front soundstage.  Bass is excellent and there are some LFE effects, but they're mostly confined to boosting the film's rap score.

PARAMOUNT has included a running commentary with Robbins and scriptwriter John Gatins.  They both share plenty of stories about the film's production, but more importantly plenty of gossip concerning Reeves as well.  It's not as fun as some other commentaries, but if you like the film, you'll appreciate it. 

"THE MAKING OF HARDBALL" is a featurette offers some interviews with cast and crew, but is mostly promotional in nature.

There are three deleted scenes.  All of them were properly excised from the film, but it's always great for us film-nuts to see "everything" about a film that we can!

A music video is also included, in full frame and 2.0 sound