Eight Men Out (20th Anniversary Edition)

Eight Men Out (20th Anniversary Edition) Sale

John Cusack (Con Air) and Charlie Sheen (Major League) lead a "superb ensemble of actors" (Newsweek) delivering "striking performances" (The New York Times) in this "mesmerizing story" (Los Angeles Times) about the infamous 1919 Chicago White Sox scandal, certainly one of the saddest chapters in the annals of professional sports. Buck Weaver (Cusack) and Hap Felsch (Sheen) are young idealistic players with the Chicago White Sox, a pennant-winning team owned by Charles Comiskey Â? a penny-pinching, hands-on manager who underpays his players and treats them with disdain. And when gamblers and hustlers discover that Comiskey's demoralized players are ripe for a money-making scheme, one by one the team members agree to throw the World Series. But when the White Sox are defeated, a couple of sports writers smell a fix and a national scandal explodes, ripping the cover off America's favorite pastime.

Special Price at Amazon Click to See Price

Description




Eliot Asinof's detailed book Eight Men Out illustrates how the system of American sports collapsed in 1919, the year the Chicago White Sox threw the World Series. Filmmaker John Sayles worked on his script years before the 1988 film (or before he had the rights to make the film) as a labor of love. Sayles's adaptation proves one can make a historically accurate film in the day and age of artistic license. And what a story. Although many know about the "Black Sox," made famous--again--in the 1989 hit film Field of Dreams, the details of the saga are far less known. The center of Dreams, Shoeless Joe Jackson (portrayed correctly by D.B. Sweeney as illiterate and left-handed in Eight), is not the core of this film; it's ace pitcher Eddie Cicotte (Sayles favorite David Strathairn), who took the money, and third baseman Buck Weaver (John Cusack), who did not. The film fits nicely into Sayles's (Lone Star) strong suit: the ensemble drama. We are introduced to bickering owners, famous crooks, high-minded judges, lowlife gangsters, investigative reporters (played by Studs Terkel and Sayles himself), and, most of all, players who are at the breaking point when it comes to low salaries and degrading rewards. While some may feel the film is not as visceral as it should be, there is a great amount of verisimilitude when watching finely tuned athletes telling their bodies to play poorly--heartbreak on the nation's diamond. Beautifully detailed (like Sayles's previous labor-drama, Matewan), Eight Men Out gives us powerful lessons in which everyone lost: players, gamblers, and especially the fans who love the game. --Doug Thomas


Eight Men Out (20th Anniversary Edition) Customer Review


This film adapts the book of the same name authored by Eliot Asinof regarding the "Black Sox" scandal of 1919, where the Chicago White Sox threw the World Series for gambling money.

The owner Cominsky underpays his players and gives them every reason to resent him. One pitcher wanted the bonus he felt he deserved as he was promised to be paid after 30 games. But Cominsky held him to the bench long enough to not quite make that 30 game deal. Sorry pal, 29 is not 30.

The film tries to be historically accurate to the days just before the Roaring Twenties, but here John Sayles (director) tries a little too hard. The cars, the music, the kids and the streets are played to such a showcase extent, that I'm saying "Where's the story?" Pretty, but let me see some ball.

And I do! It's obvious that the guys are throwing the game. And though several change their minds -- and get threats on their lives as a result from worried gangster gamblers -- it may not be enough to save their careers. I did like the sports reporters as they put two and two together, and started typing really fast in henpeck style on their ancient Royals (investigative reporters (played by Studs Terkel and Sayles himself). Loved these guys. And Christopher Lloyd playing a tough guy for a change was fun, too.

The newly appointed commissioner had other plans for the "Black Sox".

The bottom line, though the film is fun to watch and it's historically pretty in its 1919 ambiance, it remains a bit unfocused at times and could have been tighter in its presentation.

Other Baseball Films:

Major League (Wild Thing Edition)
The Natural (Director's Cut)
The Bad News Bears

And some historical stuff about the Black Sox scandal:

The Black Sox Scandal of 1919 (Cornerstones of Freedom Second Series)
The Wrong Man Out
Eight Men Out: The Black Sox and the 1919 World Series

★★★ Read More Reviews ★★★