VOA标准英语2013--Estranged Family Gets Sports Fix in 'Trouble With The Curve'

 

Estranged¹ Family Gets Sports Fix in 'Trouble With The Curve'

 

In Trouble With The Curve, Gus Lobel knows more about scouting³ new talent for baseball teams than anyone else in the business; but his failing eyesight and old-fashioned attitudes may end his storied career.

"You're talking about one of the best scouts⁴ baseball has ever seen," the character Pete tells the team manager.

"With all due respect, Pete, the game has changed. We need somebody to keep up with the times," the manager responds. "Gus couldn't even turn on a typewriter, let alone a computer. Look, we all hate to think it, but he may be ready for pasture [retirement]."

Thanks to a longtime ally in the front office, Gus has one more chance to prove his value; but he is surprised when his daughter Mickey, an attorney, shows up on the scouting trip.

Director Robert Lorenz says fixing that strained family relationship is at the heart of "Trouble With the Curve."

"It is definitely a relationship movie set in the world of baseball. It's a move with classic themes that everyone can enjoy. It's things that you're familiar with, yet we visit them in a fresh and original way," Lorenz explains.

Clint Eastwood, now 82, said he was done acting⁵ after 2008's Gran Torino. But he is back on screen in the starring role and, for the first time in almost two decades, not also directing the film.

"After Gran Torino" I thought it's just kind of stupid to be doing both jobs," Eastwood says. "I've only been doing it for 40-some years and I thought maybe I should just do one or the other to allow myself a bit of a comfort zone."

Amy Adams co-stars as daughter Mickey.

"This was a lot of fun playing a contemporary character …someone I could have been friends with [and] has a lot of the same issues that I have. So that was a great challenge because I felt really exposed and vulnerable playing someone so similar to myself, but at the same time [it was] a great opportunity to explore a father-daughter relationship. You don't see that a lot in films," Adams notes.

Trouble With The Curve is the first produced screenplay by writer Randy Brown. The cast features Justin Timberlake as a young scout² who becomes part of Mickey and Gus's lives. John Goodman plays the team executive concerned for his aging friend. 

 

1 estranged   

adj.疏远的，分离的

参考例句：

• He became estranged from his family after the argument.那场争吵后他便与家人疏远了。
• The argument estranged him from his brother.争吵使他同他的兄弟之间的关系疏远了。

2 scout   

n.童子军，侦察员；v.侦察，搜索

参考例句：

• He was mistaken for an enemy scout and badly wounded.他被误认为是敌人的侦察兵，受了重伤。
• The scout made a stealthy approach to the enemy position.侦察兵偷偷地靠近敌军阵地。

3 scouting   

守候活动，童子军的活动

参考例句：

• I have people scouting the hills already. 我已经让人搜过那些山了。
• Perhaps also from the Gospel it passed into the tradition of scouting. 也许又从《福音书》传入守望的传统。 来自演讲部分

4 scouts   

侦察员[机，舰]( scout的名词复数 )； 童子军； 搜索； 童子军成员

参考例句：

• to join the Scouts 参加童子军
• The scouts paired off and began to patrol the area. 巡逻人员两个一组，然后开始巡逻这个地区。

5 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。