The Phenom (2016)
TOMATOMETER
AUDIENCE SCORE
Critic Consensus: Powerfully acted and emotionally affecting, The Phenom proves a baseball movie can step away from the mound and still deliver a heater down the middle.
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Cast
as Hopper Gibson
as Hopper Sr.
as Dr. Mobley
as Susan Gibson
as Eddie Soler
as Scott Borwitz
as Candace Cassidy
as June Epland
as Rachel Cullum
as Dorothy Boyer
as Red Briles
as Richard Boyer
as Bevan Mahaney
as Mack Edelsack
as Betsy Schmidt
as Jill Boyer
as Ernie Jaster
as Bennie Slay
as Kelley Gates
as Jason Bayne
as Tuesday Davis
as Barry Dorsey
as Danny Kerman
as Maya Moore
as Bobby Collins
as Hugh Sweeny
as Lloyd Moseby
as Sue Dekleva
as Ben Sterling
as Stan The Fan Charles
as Howard Glass
as Kate Boothe
as Teresa May
as Woodrow Morton
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Critic Reviews for The Phenom
All Critics (47) | Top Critics (15) | Fresh (37) | Rotten (10) | DVD (1)
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.
Audience Reviews for The Phenom
Hopper Gibson (Johnny Simmons) is in a position that every little boy dreams about. He is a star rookie pitcher in Major League Baseball. His numbers and talent are off the chart, when all of a sudden, he can't find the strike zone. There is nothing wrong with him physically, so the team sends him down to the minors and puts him to work with the top sports psychologist in the country. I really don't understand professional critics and what they look for when they rate a film. Take The Phenom for example, this film has got to be the slowest and most boring sports film I've ever seen, yet it has an 80 on Rotten Tomatoes. There was very little sports action in this film and the fast majority of it consisted of this guy sitting in a room talking to a shrink! Yes, the shrink was played by Paul Giamatti, who is an unbelievably talented actor, but why the hell would anyone want to watch some dudes therapy session? When he wasn't in therapy, he should be on the field, but no, he's dealing with his over barring father, who is fresh out of prison. Who plays this bad ass, bullying his pro-athlete son, who is in peak physical condition? A very old looking, very tattooed, Ethan Hawke and I really wasn't buying that for a second. There were some talented actors in this film, no doubt, but The Phenom was 88 minutes of talking and nothing more, what in the hell is so great about that? This film was as boring as movies get, so unless you're a die hard Paul Giamatti fan, I would absolutely let this one pass you by.
Super Reviewer
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