Review of Major League (1989) by Bill C — 09 Mar 2011

How about we all remember the GOOD days of Charlie Sheen. The days where he was a young and talented actor, who may not have had the most energy in the world, but somehow had a natural substance and commanding natural prescence he lent to his films. And let's start off with a personal favourite of mine, Major League.

This is screwball sports comedy at its finest. Plenty of laugh out loud moments, great actors in the roles, hilarious dialogue, colorful charachters, all disguise this typical underdog story as something more.

The Cleveland Indians, haven't had success for 40 years, and now that there owner has died, his showgirl widow, Rachel Phelps (Margaret Whitton, who's fantastic in the cold role), wants to move the team to Florida. She wants to make them as worse as possible, so she of course puts together a team of misfits. What makes this believeable is that these guys DO have talent, but they just don't have the right tools to make it work. Steering the ship is a seemingly crotchety, no nonsense, yet still ambitious Lou Brown (played by James Gammon who steals this movie in many moments), is going to do what he can. He knows the task is daunting, but he's up for it.

In the fray, is the grizzled washed up vet, Jake Taylor, played by Tom Berenger, now down his luck and his career in the bad toilets of Mexico where he last played. In addition to not having much in the way of skill anymore, he's also down about his ex-girlfriend, played by the always appealing Renee Russo. There's also Willie Mayes Hayes, played by Wesley Snipes with such tremendous electricity. Hayes is a wannabe, who wants to be a ballplayer, but wasn't even invited to camp, but after showing off his skill, Brown is clearly desperate for talent, even if it's lacking in every other area except for speed. Then there's Pedro Cerano, played eerily comedically by Dennis Haysbert, who uses Voodoo to enhance his skill, and has many run ins with veteran pitcher Harris (Chelcie Ross). Then there's Roger Dorn (Corbin Bernsen), the cocky-vet who's paycheck takes the field before he does, and gives the rookies a hard time. Said rookie...is Rick "The Wild Thing" Vaughn, played by Charlie Sheen, a young rebel with a shady past and a prison record. Sheen plays Vaughn with ease and natural believablity.

The interactions between these colorful personalities really help the film keep up its natural charm. Now as I said before this is a typical underdog story in terms of the natural plotpoint, but make no mistake, you WANT these guys to win it, everytime you watch it. Because you enjoy them as people, despite there own problems both talentwise and personally, they seem likable, and that's a credit to all the actors. Berenger plays Taylor as a guy who's made mistakes and knows he's been his own worst enemy. As he tries to win back Lynn (Russo), those scenes themselves are quite funny and sweet.

The interractions between Sheen & Bernsen, as well as Haysbert & Ross, are done well and the actors clearly made the efforts to make them work, they're all very different, and sustaining that comedic chemistry isn't always easy. Gammon fits like a glove with everyone from Whitton, to everyone else, he's the backbone of this film and holds it all together.

I of course have to give props to Bob Uecker who plays radio announcer Harry Doyle, the guy couldn't be any more perfect with being funny if he tried. Uecker's delivery with his distinctive voice makes it all the more effective, and you find yourself quoting his quips weeks after seeing it. Clearly I think his performance here is likened to that of Fred Willard in Best in Show or Gary Cole & Jason Bateman both in Dodgeball.

The problem with most sports comedies today, is the laziness of making the charachters and there goals, both likable and appealing. Major League doesen't offer any originality in terms of its plot, but for some reason it took every little piece of straw cliche and turned it into diamonds.