Major League III

With a new Major League francise as its location, but some former stars of the Cleveland indians and the first two films in the cast, the final film of the series takes us Back To The Minors. The crux of tis plot has a rivalry between Minnesota Twins manager Ted McGinley and Scott Bakula the manager of their Triple A franchise the Charleston Buzz.

Corbin Bernson from the frst two films of the series is now the General Manager of the Twins and he hires both men, rivals since their playing days. Bakula is OK, but McGinley is pretty insufferable. The climax is a pair of exhibition games netween the teams.

A few of Bernson's teammates from his playing days with the Indians are back including Denns Haysbert the Santeria worshiping slugger.

A good sprts comedy, not quite as good as the first two of the series.

Gus Cantrell is a major league pitcher in the twilight of his career. He contacted by Roger Dorn, General Manager of the Minnesota Twins, and offered the role of managing the Buzz, the Twins' AAA team. Cantrell accepts but regrets it almost immediately. The Buzz is a dysfunctional no-hoper team, with an odd assortment of characters. However, Cantrell quickly sets about forging them into a winning team.

My expectations for this, the third installment of Major League, were quite low. The first Major League was great but Major League II was very disappointing, filled with clichés, cheap humour and unrealistic baseball. Back to the Minors initially promised to be more of the same, looking quite unoriginal and predictable.

However, it grows on you and its charms become more apparent with time. The key is that it is set in the Minor Leagues, so instead of the glamour of major league baseball, we have no-frills, small town, salt-of-the-earth baseball. It makes a refreshing change and does help the engagement factor.

This all said, it is still fairly predictable and the humour hit- and-miss, but the baseball is fairly realistic, certainly more realistic than Major League II.

Overall, okay, not brilliant, but better than Major League II, at least.

I must admit, I was pleasantly surprised by this movie. Sure, the original is the best and the second had it's fair share of moments. But I found this one to pretty entertaining and my favorite of the three. It has a lot of humor and (unlike most comedies of the 90s) doesn't result to insulting the audience's intelligence. It's a movie that wants nothing more than to make you laugh, and it does a great job at that. Scott Bakula (as always) is good, and Ted McGinley is appropriately weasley as the coach of the opposing team. I won't give it away, but the scene involving McGinely, a baseball, and the wall of the dugout is one of the funniest gags in the entire movie that had me laughing long after the scene had ended. Bob Ueker (who was hysterical in MAJOR LEAGUE and MAJOR LEAGUE II) gets a little stale this time around, but still gets in some funny moments. If only the lovely Jensen Daggett had been given a bit more to do. But the film is funny and worth a look if you're in the mood for a fun movie the whole family can enjoy.

Silly film about a minor league owner and manager who prepare their team of underdogs for a confrontation with formidable opponents. Awful performances and a weak story tarnish the image of the original 1989 comedy. Uecker tries hard for the laughs, but even he's run out of steam.

Yet another team of castaways led to improbable victory by a troubled coach who discovers himself in the process.

The only novelty here is the drama of the announcers. More energy was expended on their dialog than on anything else, with all the rest of the story is automatic. But this is actually done well. The first problem in drama is how to place the viewer. The oldest trick is also the most effective: create a chorus to stand as surrogate and leader for the viewer. A distance from the action is established, but since it is within the play, that distance is vastly less than between the screen and me in my seat.

So here we have a screenwriter working to put new life into a tired cliche. Probably it is not enough, but it is interesting to watch the struggle.