EIGHT MEN OUT - 1988
RATED - PG for adult themes, some language, smoking & drinking.
RATINGS - 63 Amazon (4.5/5), 209,647 Netflix (3.7/5.0), 7,880 IMDB (7.2/10), Roger Ebert (2/4).
STARRING - John Cusack, John Sayles, Charlie Sheen & others.
THEMES - Relationships, justice.
STORY - This is the story of the 1919 Chicago White Sox scandal in which 8 of the players were bribed to 'throw' the World Series against the Cincinnati Reds, in which they were heavily favored. The Series had changed to best of 9 games that year so the star pitcher who won 29 games would get at least three starts. Without his participation in the scandal, they would have been unbeatable. He became 'in' when Sox owner Charlie Comiskey refused to pay him his bonus for winning 30 games because he 'only' won 29. Comiskey had ordered him benched toward the end of the season for two weeks, missing five starts, to prevent him from reaching 30 wins and earning the bonus. This was but one example of Comiskey 'cheating' his players out of money they had earned. At that time, the owner was king. There were no unions and not even a commissioner for the players to appeal to. This is a fascinating story about a major black spot on Major League Baseball and subject to much discussion as to whether all the players implicated really did intentionally play below their ability. Roger Ebert's lower rating is primarily due to his feeling you had to have too much knowledge of the scandal and the individual players before watching the movie because the individual players and other characters were not identified clearly and distinctly early on in the film. His criticism does have some merit but certainly not enough to avoid this very interesting incident in Major League Baseball and one of the few full-fledged scandals in profession sports, although steroid use may end up being right up there. The costumes and settings are well done and give you a real feel for the period. Another interesting sidelight is the players' relationship to the community. They were a real part of the community, even walking back and forth from home to the stadium for games and, of course, travel by train provided for a much different environment between players and the sportswriters who traveled along. Enjoy!! Lu G. for Lu's Reviews. 09/09/2009.
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