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Category:    Home > Reviews > Drama > Sports > Baseball > Mental Illness > The Phenom (2016/RLJ Entertainment Blu-ray)

The Phenom (2016/RLJ Entertainment Blu-ray)



Picture: C+ Sound: C+ Extras: C Film: C+



Just as Hopper (Johnny Simmons) makes the major league baseball, he has mental breakdown and can no longer pitch. He goes sees a sports therapist who helps him look at his past to see and remember how he became a pitcher and if he can find what he lost to return to the game in Noah Buschel's The Phenom (2016).


Ever since Hopper was in high school, he was the rising star of the baseball team potential rookie for the major league baseball. He could throw an (almost) 100-mile-per-hour fastball with his golden arm, score with any girl he wants, and teachers had to give him a passing grade no matter if he passed or not (since he has a million dollar contract), but he finally cracks under the stress and pressure from his abusive father (who was also an ex-major league baseball player drop out) and he has 'daddy issues'. He blames everyone else for not understanding HIM and how THEY should be accommodating HIM because he is a sport superstar and his problems are more important.


This was like a movie about the stress of sports stars and it was more about drama than the game itself (also the actors weren't very good at sports). At some point when the sport becomes more like a job and players care more about money than playing for the game, it becomes a business. The movie does not create any sympathy for the main character or sport superstars, instead paints them as egotistic bastards who are green eye monsters. It just seems sad when people forget the spirit of the game. Paul Giamatti and Ethan Hawke also star.


The 1080p 2.35 X 1 digital high Definition image and DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless track are both mixed bags, inconsistent like the film itself and its script. We get motion blur and so-so camerawork, while the soundfield is not always consistent. Extras include interview with the cast and photo gallery.



- Ricky Chiang


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