“Hardball” Gets 20th Anniversary Blu-ray Upgrade

Hardball wasn't considered a home run when it was released 20 years ago, but it's endured as a favorite for families and sports fans alike. Keanu Reeves stars as Conor, a deeply-in-debt gambler who agrees to coach a Little League team. While he plans to make a quick score and get out of town, the kids (including a young Michael B. Jordan) and their teacher (Diane Lane) convince him to actually put in the work and get his life together.

Paramount has released a lot of titles on Blu-ray over the last couple of years, both in standard form and on their deluxe Paramount Presents line. This is one of the former. It won't feature any special packaging or new features, but all the legacy content has been ported over. That includes a commentary by the writer and director, a making of, deleted scenes, and a music video for the title track.

The Blu-ray will be released on September 21.

About Kip Mooney

Like many film critics born during and after the 1980s, my hero is Roger Ebert. The man was already the best critic in the nation when he won the Pulitzer in 1975, but his indomitable spirit during and after his recent battle with cancer keeps me coming back to read not only his reviews but his insightful commentary on the everyday. But enough about a guy you know a lot about. I knew I was going to be a film critic—some would say a snob—in middle school, when I had to voraciously defend my position that The Royal Tenenbaums was only a million times better than Adam Sandler’s remake of Mr. Deeds. From then on, I would seek out Wes Anderson’s films and avoid Sandler’s like the plague. Still, I like to think of myself as a populist, and I’ll be just as likely to see the next superhero movie as the next Sundance sensation. The thing I most deplore in a movie is laziness. I’d much rather see movies with big ambitions try and fail than movies with no ambitions succeed at simply existing. I’m also a big advocate of fun-bad movies like The Room and most of Nicolas Cage’s work. In the past, I’ve written for The Dallas Morning News and the North Texas Daily, which I edited for a semester. I also contributed to Dallas-based Pegasus News, which in the circle of life, is now part of The Dallas Morning News, where I got my big break in 2007. Eventually, I’d love to write and talk about film full-time, but until that’s a viable career option, I work as an auditor for Wells Fargo. I hope to one day meet my hero, go to the Toronto International Film Festival, and compete on Jeopardy. Until then, I’m excited to share my love of film with you.