Albert Brooks co-wrote and stars in this sometimes-bright but terribly unsubtle comedy about a talent scout for the New York Yankees who loses his reputation after getting a skittish college Freshman signed to the team (the Yankees apparently scheduled the kid to pitch in a televised game without any training or pre-game publicity whatsoever, so don't they get what they deserve?); Brooks is banished to South Central Mexico to find talent, and yet when he comes up with another promising pitcher, he's fired over the telephone (in one of those excruciating sitcom developments the movie occasionally falls prey to). The new pitcher (Brendan Fraser, still in "Encino Man" mode) is a child in a young man's body, thereby linking the scout and the player on an emotionally-needy basis (not solid ground for laugh-out-loud comedy). Brooks as an actor is very ingratiating--he always has been--but this material, despite some very amusing one-liners, is stale, highly concocted, and immature. Many real-life sports luminaries appear in cameos...perhaps they should have been allowed to strengthen the script. ** from ****

I think sometimes people take some movies too seriously, and this is an example of one of them. This is a fantasy baseball movie, not something that would actually happen. Does anyone think that "The Natural" was realistic? Brendan Frasier is great in his role as a child trapped in an adult's body due to an abusive childhood, but who is one of the greatest baseball players ever. Albert Brooks is also great as the scout whose bad luck suddenly changes when he discovers him in the middle of Mexico, and is so excited about his talent that he ignores the mental problems that Frasier's character has. However, Im disappointed we never learned more of what was actually wrong with him.

Sent on a route through the deepest parts of Mexico because of a big screw-up, New York Yankees talent scout, Brooks, finds the pitcher of the century in Fraser: a top-notch pitcher and a very good hitter, too. The only problem is that Fraser has the mind of a pre-adolescent teen, whose goals are simple, but his temper and emotional needs get in the way.The movie has a good premise, and the stars of the baseball diamond appear in many cameos (including Yankees mogul Steinbrenner) have a nice touch. The actors try to do a good job, but they just don't pull this movie off. There is no "believability" to it! I just don't buy it!The only good scene where Fraser demonstrates his child-like anger is when he tells the photographer to, "stop taking pictures of me...weren't the first thirty-four enough?" His emotional attachment to Brooks is found early on, but the therapist's theory of "possible homocidal tendencies" towards Brooks is not brought out enough in the movie. There is no substance to this film. If you're a Fraser fan, you might enjoy this film, but I found little else of any value and no credibility in this film.

First of all, let's deal with the fact that this movie isn't at all about baseball. Not in any real sense of the sport - it's more of a wry comedy that Albert Brooks specializes in. Brendan Fraser stars in the type of role he'd spend the next few years of his career perfecting - the lovable doofus who doesn't quite have a clue but is impossible to truly dislike. He's Steve Nebraska - uber-prospect baseball pitcher who has found his life and career derailed and ends up pitching semipro baseball in Mexico. Brooks is a baseball scout on the downside of his career, in purgatory south of the border when he discovers the immensely talented - but quite immature - Nebraska. He sees this as his ticket back to the bigtime and shops his pitching prospect around the majors, eventually signing with the Yankees where Nebraska makes his debut in the World Series.Now is when this film careens towards the edge and drives off a cliff. It's not about baseball, fine. But it involves baseball to a heavy degree, even including several major leaguers and baseball people in cameos. The climactic scene takes place in Yankee Stadium during the World Series. It may not be a sports movie, but it owes its entire premise to the sport of baseball, and as a result, owes that game a semblance of respect. What it ends up doing is shafting the game so completely and making such a mockery of baseball that it ruins whatever it had built up through the rest of the film.There is simply no excuse for building Steve Nebraska as the greatest pitcher ever - a guy who not only throws 110 mph and knocks over his catcher AND the umpire with pitches, but also hits like Barry Bonds. A guy whose first ever major league appearance is in Game One of the World Series - not only a ludicrous prospect for dramatic purposes, but completely impossible in real life (the rules of baseball don't allow this, discussion ends there). A guy whose debut game consists of throwing 81 straight fastballs past major league hitters - none of whom even so much as make contact - and who throws all of them at 110 mph. (Infamous point - the last pitch is FASTER than the first pitch). Physics dictate a guy like this would completely shred his rotator cuff, labrum muscles, and probably destroy every ligament in his elbow. Not to mention any major league lineup worth its salt (for instance, one playing in the World Series) would sit on this guy's fastball and absolutely torch him the second time through the order.Is this nitpicking? I don't think so. The Scout may be better judged as a comedy than a baseball movie, but it can't totally remove itself from the sporting aspect. I think that any movie that involves baseball as heavily as The Scout does owe it to its audience - as well as its subject matter - to make some slightest bit of effort to craft something that doesn't insult fans of the game. You can make sentimental stories that use baseball as a backdrop - and involve legendarily talented players - that don't mock the game and flip it the middle finger. The Natural comes to mind.As a comedy, it's average. As a baseball movie, it's completely insulting and awful.