Eight Men Out (1988 Film)

Eight Men Out (1988 Film)

I had the privilege of meeting American writer and director John Sayles in 1987.  He was at a film festival on Oahu and happened to know my English professor.  At that time he was better known as a Roger Corman apprentice and writer of such cult classics “Piranha,” Battle Beyond the Stars,” and “The Howling.”  He was in Hawi’i to promote his new film, “Matewan” about the 1920 coal mine strike in Matewan, West Virginia.  This was one of his first mainstream films. The class I was taking focused on film criticism, so we watched “The Brother from Another Planet” and “Matewan” before meeting Sayles.  It was great to be able to discuss a film with its creator, to understand the artistic choices made and those forced by financial constraints.  I have adored his movies ever since.

“Eight Men Out” was released the following year – although the project took more than 10 years to finance and produce. It is an intriguing look at the White Sox fixing of the 1919 World Series.  This film opens up baseball’s history including its creation of an outside commissioner.  It looks at the characters involved in the scandal, good, bad, and those swept up in the events.  It reveals the politics, the theatrics, and the big machine running the sport.  The writing is superb – John Sayles based his screenplay on the Eliot Asinof 1963 book of the same name.  The cinematography creates a mood in tune with the subject.  The actors are all good, some great.

The cast includes many top notch young actors of the day and many new faces.  John Cusack’s Buck Weaver portrayal is one of the best.  He portrays a voice of innocence with not a hint of sarcasm or deception.  Charlie Sheen gives us one of his better performances as fellow player Happy Felsch (who wild ways is now ironic of the actor’s future past). Other wonderful performances include Christopher Lloyd as Bill Burns, John Mahoney as Kid Gleason, DB Sweeney as shoeless Joe Jackson, Michael Rooker as Chick Gandil, John Anderson as Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis, David Strathairn as Eddie Cicotte, and James Read as Left Williams.  John Sayles appears in his own film as reporter Ring Lardner (and proves to be an apt actor).

The movie is “slow” by today’s standards, but it is worth the stroll.  I realize it is not everyone’s cup of tea, but if you like a good story (or just love baseball), give it a chance.

I recommend you watch this followed by Ken Burn’s PBS miniseries “Baseball.”  It is almost as if they were always meant to be paired.