Review of Major League (1989) by Thomas D — 01 May 2017

If there's any sport that makes for a great movie it's baseball. Perhaps I'm a little bias because I play the sport, but there's something about America's pastime that really hits home in the movies.

Major League tells the made-up (but totally based on the real-life struggles of the Cleveland Indians) story of a group of misfits hired by a new owner to lose as many games as possible, to ensure her plan of moving the team down to Miami. On the outskirts, it seems like a ridiculous premise that would be something out of a spoof movie. But in reality, there's actually a good deal of dramatic heft to the story as well. Luckily, the comedy and drama both balance each other out quite well.

With a memorable cast of misfits, including Charlie Sheen as the fireball pitcher Ricky Vaughn, Tom Berenger as the old but still effective Jake Taylor, Wesley Snipes as Willie Mays Hayes, Dennis Haysbert as the religious Pedro Cerrano, and of course the colorful Bob Uecker as the Indians play by play announcer. With all movies, but specifically with sports movies, you need a group of actors that have chemistry and feel like a team when they're together. Albeit extremely unconventional, the players that make up this Indians team are something else. And even though it seems like the characters are built around stereotypes, the way the actors portray them makes it never feel like stereotypical characters at all. Instead, they make for some of the most quotable lines in the history of sports films.

With that said, the film definitely delves into some paint by numbers plot points for sports films. You have your ups, downs, and montages, just like all of the other great sports pictures. I also find it sometimes difficult to watch a sports film, baseball in particular, because the movies have a hard time capturing how a game flows and looks. There are moments that feel completely acted out and unnatural, and while I can give it a pass in some areas, others I can't. However, overall Major League is a fun and re-watchable sports film that gives us plenty of comedy and a surprising amount of dramatic payoff as well.

P.S. It's funny how it's been 30 more years, and the Indians are still on their World Series drought.

+Blend of comedy and drama.

+Memorable characters and performances.

-Predictable.

8.0/10.