A review by Brooks Rich
I am not an athlete by an stretch of the imagination. I can't ice skate. I can't really hit a baseball with a bat. If I throw a football it looks pathetic. But I've always loved sports movies. I love the underdog nature of them and usually sports translate well to film. There's essentially two types of sports films. There's the uplifting drama about the underdog managing to win and overcome impossible odds. Than there's the comedy that has a bunch of goofy oddballs managing to win despite being a bunch of man children. The film we'll be talking about today falls into the latter.
The Cleveland Indians owner has died, leaving the team in the hands of his wife, Rachel Phelps, a former Las Vegas showgirl. She wants the team to finish dead last so she can move them to Florida so she hires the worst players she can in the hopes they do poorly. When the team finds out about Rachel's plan, they decide to win as much as they can just to spite her.
This film is hilarious. It's a goofy comedy that just happens to also be a sports underdog film. Someone could rewrite Major League to be a more serious drama but I'm not sure it would work. It might just become another baseball sports movie. The comedy is what elevates Major League past other films of it's ilk. The goofy comedy and legit sports story go hand in hand. Sure the team is cracking jokes and getting into antics but the film makes sure that the games feel important. Try not to cheer whenever these lovable losers pull out a win.
The cast is the highlight of this film. The always great Tom Berenger plays Jake Taylor, a catcher on the tail end of his career who is given one last shot. Corbin Bernsen is Roger Dorn, the Indian's Prima Donna third baseman and Charlie Sheen plays Rick Vaughn, a ex con with a wicked fastball and no control over it. It might be hard to think now but Sheen was a huge draw in the last '80s and early '90s, before Tiger Blood and the general craziness Sheen went through. I've always liked Charlie Sheen and was sad to see how far he fell. Cocaine is a hell of a drug.
Major League is not going to set the world of cinema on fire. It's just a fun comedy set in the world of baseball. I imagine some of you maybe have seen this and have forgotten how funny it is. Give Major League a revisit or if you've never seen it, by all means give it a watch. The sequel is also a lot of fun, despite the horrible reviews on Rotten Tomatoes.
Major League is directed by David S. Ward, who won an Academy Award for writing The Sting. Yes. The director of Major League and Major League 2 is an Oscar winner.
I am not an athlete by an stretch of the imagination. I can't ice skate. I can't really hit a baseball with a bat. If I throw a football it looks pathetic. But I've always loved sports movies. I love the underdog nature of them and usually sports translate well to film. There's essentially two types of sports films. There's the uplifting drama about the underdog managing to win and overcome impossible odds. Than there's the comedy that has a bunch of goofy oddballs managing to win despite being a bunch of man children. The film we'll be talking about today falls into the latter.
The Cleveland Indians owner has died, leaving the team in the hands of his wife, Rachel Phelps, a former Las Vegas showgirl. She wants the team to finish dead last so she can move them to Florida so she hires the worst players she can in the hopes they do poorly. When the team finds out about Rachel's plan, they decide to win as much as they can just to spite her.
This film is hilarious. It's a goofy comedy that just happens to also be a sports underdog film. Someone could rewrite Major League to be a more serious drama but I'm not sure it would work. It might just become another baseball sports movie. The comedy is what elevates Major League past other films of it's ilk. The goofy comedy and legit sports story go hand in hand. Sure the team is cracking jokes and getting into antics but the film makes sure that the games feel important. Try not to cheer whenever these lovable losers pull out a win.
The cast is the highlight of this film. The always great Tom Berenger plays Jake Taylor, a catcher on the tail end of his career who is given one last shot. Corbin Bernsen is Roger Dorn, the Indian's Prima Donna third baseman and Charlie Sheen plays Rick Vaughn, a ex con with a wicked fastball and no control over it. It might be hard to think now but Sheen was a huge draw in the last '80s and early '90s, before Tiger Blood and the general craziness Sheen went through. I've always liked Charlie Sheen and was sad to see how far he fell. Cocaine is a hell of a drug.
Major League is not going to set the world of cinema on fire. It's just a fun comedy set in the world of baseball. I imagine some of you maybe have seen this and have forgotten how funny it is. Give Major League a revisit or if you've never seen it, by all means give it a watch. The sequel is also a lot of fun, despite the horrible reviews on Rotten Tomatoes.
Major League is directed by David S. Ward, who won an Academy Award for writing The Sting. Yes. The director of Major League and Major League 2 is an Oscar winner.
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