Eight Men Out (1988)
Average Rating: 7.2/10
Reviews Counted: 44
Fresh: 38 | Rotten: 6
Perhaps less than absorbing for non-baseball fans, but nevertheless underpinned by strong performances from the cast and John Sayles' solid direction.
Average Rating: 5.7/10
Critic Reviews: 11
Fresh: 6 | Rotten: 5
Perhaps less than absorbing for non-baseball fans, but nevertheless underpinned by strong performances from the cast and John Sayles' solid direction.
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Average Rating: 3.6/5
User Ratings: 12,058
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Movie Info
Writer/director John Sayles' dramatization of the most infamous episode in professional sports -- the fix of the 1919 World Series -- is considered by many to be among his best films and arguably the best baseball movie ever made. This adaptation of Eliot Asinof's definitive study of the scandal shows how athletes of another era were a different breed from the well-paid stars of later years. The Chicago White Sox owner, Charlie Comiskey (Clifton James), is portrayed as a skinflint with little
Sep 2, 1988 Wide
May 8, 2001
Orion Pictures
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Cast
-
John Cusack
Buck Weaver -
Clifton James
Charles Comiskey -
David Strathairn
Eddie Cicotte -
Christopher Lloyd
Bill Burns -
D.B. Sweeney
"Shoeless" Joe Jackson -
John Mahoney
Kid Gleason -
Michael Lerner
Arnold Rothstein -
Charlie Sheen
Hap Felsch -
Gordon Clapp
Ray Schalk -
Don Harvey
Swede Risberg -
Michael Rooker
Chick Gandil -
Perry Lang
Fred McMullin -
James Read
Lefty Williams -
Jace Alexander
Dickie Kerr -
Richard Edson
Billy Maharg -
Bill Irwin
Eddie Collins -
Michael Mantell
Abe Attell -
Kevin Tighe
Sport Sullivan -
Studs Terkel
Hugh Fullerton -
John Anderson
Judge Kenesaw Mountain ... -
John Sayles
Ring Lardner -
Wendy Makkena
Kate Jackson -
Maggie Renzi
Rose Cicotte -
Brad Armacost
Attendant -
Eliot Asinof
Heydler -
Ken Berry
Heckler -
-
John Craig
Rothstein's Lawyer -
Dick Cusack
Judge Friend -
Jim Desmond
Smitty -
Brad Garrett
PeeWee -
Barbara Garrick
Helen Weaver -
Lee Anne Harris
Singer -
Merrill Holtzman
Grabiner -
Rich Komenich
Jury Foreman -
Michael Laskin
Austrian -
Richard Lynch
Writer -
Tom Marshall
Browns Umpire -
Randle Mell
Ahearn -
Stephen Mendillo
Monk -
Danton Stone
Hired Killer -
Tay Strathairn
Bucky -
Nancy Travis
Lyria Williams -
Jesse Vincent
Scooter -
-
B.J. Davis
Enemy Fan -
Bill Raymond
Ben Short -
Jim Stark
Reporter -
Clyde Bassett
Ban Jonson -
Max Chiddester
Nash -
Patrick Grant
Irish tenor -
Brad Griffith
Reporter -
David Hinman
Announcer -
Bill Jennings
Chicago Umpire -
Tim Laughter
Betting Man -
Jim Martindale
Cincinnati Umpire -
Robert Motz
D.A. -
Philip Murphy
Jimmy -
J. Dennis Newman
Reds Player -
Eaton Randles
Clerk -
Dana Roi
Woman in Bar -
Steve Salge
Reporter -
Charles Siebert II
Reds Catcher -
Josh Thompson
Winslow -
Julie Whitney
Woman in Bar -
-
-
Michael Preston
New Jersey Fans -
John E. Blazier
Newspaper Reporter -
Michael Harris
Writer
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Eight Men Out Trailer & Photos
All Critics (44) | Top Critics (11) | Fresh (40) | Rotten (6) | DVD (8)
It's a period re-created with a whoosh of energy and a redeeming vein of irony.
The ensemble performances are of such a uniformly high caliber that our interest in the story never wavers.
Eight Men Out never gathers much authority; the old themes have been hung on a rickety structure that constantly threatens to collapse.
In an ensemble movie like this one, an actor who grabs too much of the limelight can throw everything out of focus. The cast Sayles has assembled understands the value of teamwork.
Sayles often seems like a man who, trying to stretch a single, gets caught between bases and is desperately trying to evade the rundown.
Perhaps the saddest chapter in the annals of professional American sports is recounted in absorbing fashion in Eight Men Out.
Top CriticDoes a fine job in getting to the details of the baseball scandal.
Sayles deftly re-creates the forces that drove men at top of their class on the diamond to take bribes: big-time crime in Chicago and heartless management in the head office.
The story is lumpy in spots, but fine performances and expressive camera work carry the day.
A treat for baseball fans but might bore others.
In 1988, writer-director John Sayles made his most ambitious film to date with this intelligent chronicle of the 1919 sports scandal, cast with some of the best actors around (Strathairn, Cusack, Sweeney, Sheen).
Sayles' excellent film is more of a human tragedy than a sports movie -- meaning that even those with a limited knowledge of baseball should find it fascinating stuff.
It's saturated with the period, and it advances a few theories that convincingly answer that little boy's question for Jackson, which, beneath that plea for a denial, really wanted to know one thing: why?
Sayles gives the film an intelligent, well-researched, nostalgic tone with plenty of quiet moments to round out the excitement.
Sayles not only depicts the circumstances that led to the fix (most notably Sox owner Charles Comiskey's legendary tightfistedness), but he also re-creates the games in great detail, making the best possible use of an athletic cast.
Strong performances help -- especially from David Strathairn -- but it's not the great American sports drama it could have been.
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Latest News on Eight Men Out
January 31, 2006:
Strathairn Signs Up for New Line's "Fracture"Movie geeks all over the place have admired character actor David Strathairn for several years now,...
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The retelling here is pretty good, and qwuite insightful, yet not without its flaws. The story could have ued some more context and clearer motivations, and it helps to have at least a little prior knowledge of the story before seeing this, but even then, this is still an enjoyable look at just how different the sports world was way back when, as compared to the days depicted here where the players were true working class heroes not making millions of dollars, and were seen as truly being guys deserving of worship, making their screw ups all the more stinging and upsetting.
I think the film also could have further detailed the labor history aspect of things, and the exact cultural impact the scandal had, but it does a decent enough job as it stands.