Michael Tollin
John Gatins
Diane Lane
D.B. Sweeney
| Hardball | |
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| Directed by | Brian Robbins |
| Produced by | Brian Robbins Michael Tollin |
| Written by | Daniel Coyle (book) John Gatins |
| Starring | Keanu Reeves Diane Lane D.B. Sweeney |
| Music by | Mark Isham |
| Cinematography | Tom Richmond |
| Editing by | Ned Bastille |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
| Release date(s) | September 14, 2001 |
| Running time | 106 minutes |
| Language | English |
| Budget | ~ US$21,000,000 |
| IMDb | |
Hardball is a 2001 American film directed by Brian Robbins. It stars Keanu Reeves, Diane Lane and D.B. Sweeney. The screenplay by John Gatlins is based on the book Hardball: A Season in the Projects by Daniel Coyle. The original music score is composed by Mark Isham. The film is known in some parts of the U.S. as "Little Sluggers."
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Conor O'Neill is a gambler who has bet on his dead father's account and is now severely in debt. In order to repay the debt he must coach a baseball team of troubled kids in the Cabrini-Green housing projects of Chicago. He had decided that once he repaid his debts he would leave the team but soon Conor connects with the kids and finds it harder to leave than he thought.
The film was based off of a nonfiction novel that tracked the experience of Robert Muzikowski, a real-life youth baseball coach. Muzikowski sued Paramount Pictures Corp. for defamation, alleging that the film inaccurately portrayed him as a down-on-his-luck gambler with suspicious ties who took on youth baseball simply to repay a debt. In fact, Muzikowski coached baseball voluntarily because of his concern for the community, was not a degenerate gambler, and was an upstanding member of his community. Muzikowski won his lawsuit against Paramount Pictures Corp.
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