Major League
by David S. Ward
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Charlie Sheen, Corbin Bernsen, James Gammon, Margaret Whitton, Tom BerengerDirector: David S. Ward
Cinematographer: Reynaldo Villalobos
Writer: David S. Ward
Producer: Chris Chesser
Producer: Irby Smith
Producer: Joe Roth
Producer: Julie Bergman Sender
Producer: Mark Rosenberg
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround; French (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Running Time: 107 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2002-09-24
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Paramount
Movie Reviews of Major League
Movie Review: Great Sports Movie
Summary: 5 Stars
If you want to have some fun ... along the lines of watching the Miracle Mets win it all in 1969 ... this is a movie for you.
"Major League" is David Ward's baby. He wrote the story. He wrote the script. He even directed it. It's a story about the Cleveland Indians ... a collection of cast-offs and misfits ... who defy the experts (and their own team owner) and find the winning formula.
The script is very excellent. There are more than a few gems (really memorable or funny lines) but it is all a very believable dialog. Even the swear words (and there are quite a few of those here as well) are perfectly apt.
The casting is top-notch ... with selecting James Gammon to be the manager Lou Brown perhaps being the best hire.
The acting is superior, thoroughly superior, to most movies. We tend to discount the quality of the acting when it is in a comedy, but, for this movie, we shouldn't. Even the smaller roles are filled out with pretty good performances.
Tom Berenger as Jake Taylor ... the washed up ball player who gets one more taste of stardom ... is superb. We like Jake, we trust him, and we want him to win. He's been a carouser, but we know he's better than that, and will, given this new chance, make good. That is Tom Berenger doing a good acting job. Rene Russo as Lynn Wells (Jake's love interest) does a nice job of walking the line between her logic and her heart. Here she is caring and vulnerable ... wise but, at the same time, unwise. In short, she is lovable. Corbin Bernsen plays the overpaid ballplayer Roger Dorn, and he doesn't really make the part work. Dorn is supposed to be a prima donna, and he (Corbin) does all right with that part of it, but he never really comes across ... convincingly ... as a baseball player. He tries, but can't quite pull it off. Charlie Sheen as Rick Vaughn is my pick for the MVP (most valuable performer) of this movie. Vaughn is a punk ... "Wild Thing" ... a pitcher with an attitude problem (and a 97 mph fastball) ... and a fan favorite. Charlie doesn't have a lot of lines here, but he makes them count ... just a very excellent job of acting, I think. Margaret Whitton plays Rachel Phelps ... the mean lady team owner ... and she is ... wonderful. She has to lose all of her dignity to make the part work ... and she does. She spews hated and venom ... all within the framework of a comedy ... and is miserable (and delighfully so) when the team manages to win. Just a great job ... and a deft touch ... at comedic acting. Wesley Snipes plays Willie Mays Hayes, the speedster lead-off man. You can tell he (Wesley) tried hard to make the character believable ... and he succeeded. James Gammon as Lou Brown, the team's manager, is perfect for the part. His deadpan "I've seen it all" delivery is very much like the real life, over-seasoned, veteran baseball skipper he portrays. Bob Uecker as the announcer Harry Doyle keeps things moving with his witty and baseball-savvy commentary. And Chelcie Ross, who plays the aging pitcher Eddie Harris, gives a quite true-to-life portrayal, I felt.
The story moves along at a nice pace, and there is comedy in pretty much every scene. The crowd scenes in the stadium (near the end of the picture) are incredible. They must have done the filming at a real Indians game. And the "Wild Thing" song scene ... when Charlie Sheen's character walks in from the bull pen ... is absolutely great. Just an extremely fun moment for us movie watchers to enjoy.
Complaints? Yep. Two. The Cerrano character. He is a surly voodoo practicing defector from Cuba, and his surliness and voodoo are catered to in the movie. Also, we are force-fed high society and higher learning. OK. Here's what happens: Jake (the Tom Berenger character) takes Willie and Rick (Wesley Snipes and Charlie Sheen) to an expensive French restaurant, where the menu is even in French. Right. While there, he (Jake) spots his old flame (Rene Russo as Lynn Wells) and they re-connect. She is now into literature big-time, and she's also engaged to marry an incredibly rich attorney. She (later) chastises Jake for not having read at least some of the classics, and he, Jake, gives in and reads "Moby Dick". Right. This sort of scenario happens to a big league baseball player all the time. Why not just let Lynn be a regular gal ... someone who is trying to forge a decent life for herself ... when she falls (again) for the charming big leaguer?
Still, the romance between Tom Berenger and Rene Russo works quite nicely. They make a good on-screen couple ... and there's one song on the soundtrack that adds to the romantic atmosphere ... and when Lynn decides to dump the rich lawyer and go back with Jake (Well, I guess it could happen) ... and the team wins the big game ... it all makes for a very happy ending ... one that gives a substantial tug on your heartstrings.
Summary of Major League
A baseball comedy and slob comedy rolled into one, this one actually works as entertainment, if not as a piece of cinematic mastery. James Gammon is the has-been manager hired to lead the last-place Cleveland Indians whose owner wants them to lose so she can sell them. But the team of has-beens and never-wases that he assembles (including Tom Berenger, Charlie Sheen, Corbin Bernsen, and Wesley Snipes) develops a sense of pride and turns the team around. There's plenty of rowdy humor about sex, race, and whatever else they can make fun of. Look for Rene Russo (in her first film role) as Berenger's romantic interest; Snipes also had his first showy role as Willie Mays Hayes, the team's base-stealing ace. --Marshall FineStills from Major League (Click for larger image)
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