The Phenom

When Buschel narrows his focus and has a handle on these characters' essences, there are flashes of greatness. All he needs is a tighter grip.

This "love me daddy" baseball pic that earns points for spending less than 5 percent of its time on the diamond and refusing to end in open competition...so far as the playing field is concerned.

It's Hawke who gives the film its dramatic urgency.

Not everything here works... But it's an interesting, great-looking film, and Simmons is just dynamite in it.

A welcome surprise for sports cinema, "The Phenom" handles itself like Robert Redford's "Ordinary People" when exploring the psychology of a Lebron James or Johnny Manziel-like sports sensation.

Instead of big fireworks, "The Phenom" offers low-key character moments. It's a small film with a lot of insight.

Ethan Hawke is making a habit of playing flawed fathers, but his feckless dads in Boyhood and Ten Thousand Saints appear positively benign in comparison with the toxic parent he plays in [this] psychological sporting drama.

Buschel is clearly on the right track to fully embracing the limitations of conventional structures in storytelling. When he does, it could lead to a minor masterpiece, which at times The Phenom flirts with.

There is a stronger, deeper, fuller motion picture to be made from this material. Earnest though it is, this one is decidedly far from phenomenal.

The mental side of baseball might be critical to winning, but it's not all that exciting to watch.