The Phenom, the millennial version of Fear Strikes Out?

The 1957 film version of Jim Piersall’s Fear Strikes Out depicted the relationship between a star player, performed by Anthony Perkins — in his first starring role (according to the trailer below) and in one of the silliest examples of athletic casting since Paul Bendix tried to pull off being Babe Ruth — and his overbearing father, portrayed by the steady Karl Malden.

Now we have The Phenom, starring with Johnny Simmons in the titular role and Ethan Hawke as the domineering dad. Of course, in this current climate, the story has to be even darker, with a nod to controlling Little League parents who indulge their kids in the hopes of stardom and multi-million dollar deal as well as and physical abuse replacing the mere emotional pressures in  of Fear.

Throw in Paul Giammati (son of the late commissioner of baseball Bart) as the empathetic therapist to make it more palatable and hopes were high. At least until the premiere on June 23. Upshot from the New York Times‘ four-paragraph review by Neil Genzlinger: “The Phenom is a baseball movie with virtually no baseball, which would be fine if the thing it relied on instead — lots and lots of talking — exhibited zest and originality. It doesn’t.”

Trouble with the Curve had a stellar cast, too — Clint Eastwood, Amy Adams, Justin Timberlake, John Goodman, to name a few — and look how stinko that one was. In fact, I had not heard about TWTC until after it came out; same for Phenom. It’s certainly not playing at any of my local theaters. That has to be some indication — the lack of advance hype (look how far ahead we hear about blockbusters like Star Trek et al) — as to the faith the studio have in the project.

Submitted for your consideration, the trailers for each movie:

I fine it interesting that some 60 years ago, the emphasis was on Perkins as the star of the film. It takes 30 seconds to get to what the movie is actually about.