Conor O'Neill (Keanu Reeves)	Elizabeth Wilkes: Diane Lane
G-Baby: DeWayne Warren	Miles: Alan Ellis Jr.
Jefferson: Julian Griffith	Ticky: John Hawkes
Kofi: Michael Perkins	Andre: Bryan Hearne
Director: Brian Robbins

30 Second Bottom Line: A ticket scalper, with an addictive gambling habit, agrees to coach a Little League baseball team in Chicago's Cabrini Green housing project as the condition of getting a loan to pay his debts. His indifferent attitude changes after seeing how much the boys respond to him and he falls for a female teacher at the school.

Story Line: Showing up is one of the most important things about winning in the game of life. Hardball is inspired by a true story that takes place in Chicago.

Keanu Reeves plays Conor O'Neill, a man prone to gamble and get into debt that he is unable to pay. When he tries to borrow money from a friend, he gets it only on the condition that he coaches a Little League baseball team in a rough housing project. There may be some of you who say that's an oxymoron, but not all housing projects are as tough as Cabrini Green.

Conor meets parochial schoolteacher Elizabeth Wilkes (Diane Lane) who he at first mistakes for a Catholic nun without her habit. Elizabeth likes him but is wary of his reasons for working with the kids and the lies he tells about what he really does for a living.

All of the boys on the team, G -Baby (DeWayne Warren), Miles (Alan Ellis Jr.), Jefferson (Julian Griffith), Kofi (Michael Perkins) and Andre (Bryan Hearne) have their unique personalities that both challenge and teach Conor while he teaches them. For example, Miles is a pitcher who does best when he is listening to music with his headphones on. Jefferson is an overweight kid who is afraid to walk home in the evening.

Tell Me More About It: Hardball is a complex story that makes it fairly easy to see things that are not all that pleasant. It's not as slick as Remember the Titans but the social message is even stronger because it's dealing with today's issues.

Cabrini Green is in an area in the process of being gentrified. You have fancy new condos, with impressive, tall fences adjacent to high rise projects that are among the roughest in the nation. Within the past few weeks I drove through there and about an hour later there was a big drug bust. A few days after that a van transporting pilots and flight attendants from the downtown area to the airport had a stray bullet wound one of the passengers. So for this white coach to lead a team in this area to repay a debt shows you how much he felt he was in a bind.

While Chicago loves to get the revenue associated with movie making, there was quite a bit of controversy about this project. Mayor Daley and others were very upset because of the extensive profanity coming out of the mouths of young black boys. For some, the dialogue and cursing will only reinforce a negative stereotype of African-Americans and put Chicago in less than a favorable light. Recalling recent films that have pulled punches, I feel that we are better off seeing it like it is than like we want it to be.

In the preview for this film I wrote, "It is an R movie and not PG-13." crazy beautiful is one film that suffered because of being so sanitized to garner a PG-13 rating. Possibly some adults will take their kids to see this one. They just might see certain things they want to emulate and others that they want to change.

This film was toned down with respect to language and it came out with a PG-13 rating. Based upon the amount of foul language in the released version, I'd say it was the right thing to remove some of the cursing because there is still quite a bit coming from the mouths of these young boys. For a true, gritty edge Hardball could have been shot in the style of a documentary and not with the Hollywood flavor of motivational speeches and touches that only a writing team would come up with.

This film is not a travel poster for Chicago, anymore than advertisements with rain would be for California. The projects are ugly on the outside and inside. People do get killed in drive by shootings and some folks really do sit on the floor so that they are out of the line of sight of gunfire at window level. Community service is done at times for the public record rather than a spirit in the heart. I am reminded somewhat of the film George Washington which deals with kids growing up in less than ideal circumstances.

My expectations were exceeded in seeing this film. The contrast of the slums with the graceful skyscrapers in the nearby distance reminds us of the contrasting worlds we live in. I was surprised with the film capturing the segregationist views that still exist in this city I love. Chicago remains a place where there are many invisible (and visible) boundaries - especially in the older neighborhoods.

The places where "new" people relocating to Chicago tend to look, such as in the downtown and near north areas and in many of the new suburbs, are very integrated. That is not the case in many of Chicago's neighborhoods. In one scene at a local bar, frequented by whites, there are Irish signs prominently placed; which implies that if you are Irish you are welcome. For sure there are many Irish pubs that are models of diversity but I must say that if you know Chicago and its old neighborhoods, you don't just go in places because the sign says "open."

Mayor Daley, who is Irish, has seen his support and volume of votes, increase from blacks dramatically over the years. Hopefully this message of coming together will break down some old barriers that have stood for far too long. "Coach of the crack babies" is not the way that community service should be viewed.

In Chicago there is currently a controversy about a black catholic school being in a league with predominately white schools. Blacks say they don't want to go to the white schools for night games because the whites are racist. I'm sure that is true of some people, you don't have to be white to not want to be in an area where, while not the rough projects, the police blotter says you are at higher risk. Facts are facts and people owe it to themselves to be cautious.

Community and a sense of belonging is essential for kids to grow up and know how to put all of life's pieces together. Team sports are important for kids, in the projects or in a wealthy suburb. When there are single parent households with too few fathers, or other men as role models and mentors, first those in that community pay for the dysfunctional progeny that are produced and then we all pay, when they leave the neighborhood. There might really be something to the phrase, "pay me now or pay me later." Later always costs more-a lot more.

Keanu Reeves: The Gift	Diane Lane: The Perfect Storm
John Hawkes: The Perfect Storm	Bryan Hearne: Debut
Julian Griffith: Debut	Alan Ellis Jr.: Debut
DeWayne Warren: Debut	Brian Robins: Varsity Blues