They say that ballplayers can have a slump, like Palmer does in this movie. I'd also like to add that so do writers and this is Simon's slump. He must have needed the money as the plot has none of the Simon wit of scripts past and the whole idea has been recycled numerous times over the years by every writer in LA. Ashby's direction lacks any pacing at all and the whole thing could have been cut by at least 20 minutes. I will admit there are moments of fun but they are brief and far between. The film also seems dated. I went on a Simon kick last week and watched Barefoot in the Park and The Odd Couple 1 and 2 and they still hold up even though the first two were written in the 60's. Simon has had little success with scripts written directly for Hollywood (Murder by Death is an exception) and his biggest successes have always been stage plays first.

Tuned into this on cable one night. I figured that since Rebecca De Mornay is in it, it shouldn't be half bad, since she's done well in other features. Well, not here. Her character of an aspiring singer isn't at all convincing, starting with her inability to carry a tune. She should have been grateful to her whiny husband for rescuing her from a sorry music career. If you're into baseball, I suppose the game scenes might be interesting. However, the marital relationship, which should be the foundation of the plot, failed to come across as believable. These two were one-dimensional and lacked chemistry. Without that, I stopped caring what happened to them.

I've been trying to watch everything I can of Hal Ashby's, since I'm a big fan of Being There and Shampoo. My Tivo's been recording all of them, and for some reason, this film and The Last Detail are constantly being shown right now. I immediately watched The Last Detail, and loved it. I'd been putting off this one, because it just didn't sound appealing. Man, were my instincts right on this one. It doesn't even feel like an Ashby film. Everyone's been commenting on the poor baseball quality of the film, but it's equally appalling at the music end. Does anyone believe for a minute that Rebecca De Mornay and Loudon Wainwright III (yes, that's him) have a chance in hell at a record deal? Were record labels in the eighties desperately seeking bands that could do lame covers of both "Little Red Corvette" and "Love the One You're With"? I've had to watch this movie in chunks. I'm determined to finish it. I'm now on day three, maybe even four, of attempting to get through this. I'm in the last few minutes, Michael O'Keefe just hit the clichéd pivotal home run, and I couldn't care less. What went wrong here? I'm not a Neil Simon fan, but I'd think Ashby could have done something with this. Perhaps it's the impact of the eighties on a seventies auteur.

This film advertises itself as a Baseball movie with a Love Story. The film fails at both attempts.The Love story is boring and pointless as the characters simply go through the cliche'd story of falling in love, and then drifting apart.But the real disaster here is the failure as a Baseball story. Somehow, we are supposed to believe that Michael O'Keefe is a credible Baseball Slugger? O'Keefe will forever be known as Danny Noonan from Caddychack. Unfortunately, this role did little to take that typecast off of him.He's less than 200 pounds, with barely any muscle tone on his body, and he supposed to have been inspired by his love for Rebecca De Mornay to hit 62 Home Runs in a Season. The story starts off with the fact that he's a light-weight singles hitter. If you look at the four men in history who have hit over 60 home runs in a season, (Ruth, Maris, McGwire & Sosa) you will see that these men are rather large and muscular. O'keefe is neither.However, the story gets even more ridiculous as O'Keefe nears the record. On the night before the final game, he is sitting on 61 Home runs, which has tied the record. So, what does he do? He goes out to the local dance club (where he first met De Mornay) with his buddies. On his way to the dance floor, one reporter from Sports Illustrated approaches him and asks him a few questions, than wishes him luck.ONE REPORTER!?!?! He's on the verge of breaking the single season home run record, and he's out in a disco, and there's only one reporter asking him questions??? Even non-baseball fans can appreciate the amount of media coverage and fan reaction when guys like Maris, McGwire and Sosa neared the 60 mark. Those men were constantly hounded by fans and the media every night.If you want a decent movie about baseball, that also details the accurate lifestyle of a player about to break the single season, see Billy Crystal's "61*".