The Phenom (2016)

Very Cool!!!

To me, this movie is perfection.

hyped garbage

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

I think this could of been a decent movie. But it has very little to do with baseball. It is about a young prospect who makes it to the show and then struggles. But they never show any of it. It's all implemented. The movie is more about how the guy has a crappy dad who may be the reason the kid is a head case at the time and in a slump. Then the movie just ends with no closing at all. Honestly, there never really seemed to be a point to the movie.

Hopper Gibson (Johnny Simmons) is in a position that every little boy dreams about. He is a star rookie pitcher in Major League Baseball. His numbers and talent are off the chart, when all of a sudden, he can't find the strike zone. There is nothing wrong with him physically, so the team sends him down to the minors and puts him to work with the top sports psychologist in the country. I really don't understand professional critics and what they look for when they rate a film. Take The Phenom for example, this film has got to be the slowest and most boring sports film I've ever seen, yet it has an 80 on Rotten Tomatoes. There was very little sports action in this film and the fast majority of it consisted of this guy sitting in a room talking to a shrink! Yes, the shrink was played by Paul Giamatti, who is an unbelievably talented actor, but why the hell would anyone want to watch some dudes therapy session? When he wasn't in therapy, he should be on the field, but no, he's dealing with his over barring father, who is fresh out of prison. Who plays this bad ass, bullying his pro-athlete son, who is in peak physical condition? A very old looking, very tattooed, Ethan Hawke and I really wasn't buying that for a second. There were some talented actors in this film, no doubt, but The Phenom was 88 minutes of talking and nothing more, what in the hell is so great about that? This film was as boring as movies get, so unless you're a die hard Paul Giamatti fan, I would absolutely let this one pass you by.

Having just finished Rick Ankiel's book, The Phenomenon, and just finishing this movie, I think it's pretty obvious the plot is based on his story. As mentioned in the FAQ, nobody has come out and said the movie is based on Ankiel but the many similarities are striking and pretty hard to ignore. Here are a few:1) Ankiel attended Port St. Lucie HS like the main character, 2) Ankiel's dad was crazy, abusive and overbearing. Ankiel even talks about him screaming at and intimidating his HS coaches. He also took credit for Rick's success, 3) Like the movie's main character, Ankiel told people his father was a fisherman and hung drywall, when in reality he was a drug dealer who spent time in prison, 4) The main character in the movie plays in the Atlanta Braves organization, which was Ankiel's favorite team growing up, 5) After he loses his control in the 2000 playoffs, Ankiel moves down to the minors and spends a ton of time with sports psychologist Harvey Dorfman, and they talk a lot about his past with an abusive father.Those are just some of the glaring similarities so it seems pretty obvious this movie was inspired by Rick Ankiel's story. As usual, artistic license has added and changed certain parts of the story but it seems pretty obvious this movie was based on Ankiel's story.I'd consider the overall production below average, in part due to the lack of character development. However, I applaud the ambition for undertaking a difficult and often unspoken aspect of professional sports. The "yips" is a well-known phenomenon in the baseball world, but one that players avoid in daily conversation because of its ability to sneak up on any player at any time, and the emotional toll it takes on its victims. Because this theme seemed to take precedence, I was willing to overlook the main character's unrealistically poor pitching mechanics and the frequent and awkward misuse of baseball terminology. It would have been nice if the movie focused a bit more on the emotional turmoil experienced in the player's personal life as he tries to overcome his affliction. This seems to be a product of the lack of character development. Additionally, I think beginning the movie with various notable events throughout the pitcher's childhood would have provided some more context, added some character development, and provided a good foundation for the rest of the movie.

I've read the reviews and no one got it. Sports are for "alpha" personalities. You can't overthink your duties in a sports game. If you do, you will doom your efforts. The father character understand this, to an extreme.The kid, our protagonist, does not. The psychologist does a little. Everything else was just a waste of time. Not only that, but you have to get an actor who looks like a 100 mph pitcher. I really like that Simmons guy, but he doesn't look like a major league pitcher. Even the father mentioned that repeatedly.Life is separated between the alphas, the betas, and the omegas. Which one are you? Having talent is not enough to make you a major league great. You have to have the mental game down as well.There was some good dialogue and some decent scenes, but much of it was disjointed. What was the point of the robbery? To show that he is a rube?Why does the girl even like him? He doesn't show any charm. Why did the mom go with the dad in high school? Was it just because he was a jock and a star, or did he show promise as a human being?This movie sucked, but had potential.