Eight Men Out

John Sayles' Eight Men Out is a fantastic historical movie. We are told the story of the 1919 White Sox from so many angles with so many well developed characters that the result is beautifully authentic. If you have any questions about why and how the World Series was fixed your answers are here. Every character seems so true to the point were you can see yourself maybe taking the path of many of those players if you were in their shoes. That sums up the movie perfectly, in this movie better then any other historical drama I've ever seen, you are in the shoes of the characters. The acting is phenomenal, David Strathairn gives the performance of the movie as veteran pitcher Ed Cicotte. Strathairn in particular along with John Cusack (Buck Weaver) and John Mahoney (Manager) elevate the movie from a history book to a heart-breaking story about real people without resorting to cheap sentiment tricks. Sayles nicely downplayed the role of Joe Jackson (DB Sweeney). Jackson was not the focus of the scandal, he was simply the best player involved. We see Jackson as ignorant and vulnerable, (unable to read and write) the scene when he tells Kid Gleason he doesn't want to play is a fabulous touch, Jackson worries about the scandal and like a child, he tries to run away. All supporting characters do a fine job especially Christopher Lloyd, Charlie Sheen, Sayles himself, Michael Lerner and the actors who played "College Boy" Eddie Collins (good court scene) and Commissioner Landis (dead ringer). Although this is the greatest sports movie ever made, it goes far beyond sports and it will appeal to non-sports fan as a touching morality tale about real people. ****

This is one of the greatest sports stories ever told, the real story about how and WHY they fixed the World Series. Eliot Asinof's book should be read by anyone interested in history, and Sayles does an admirable job of tying it all together into a script (Sayles even cast Asinof in the movie, and then cast him again in Sunshine State.) It's a story that anyone interested in a history of America, a history of labor and management, a history of the greatest game will definitely enjoy. After reading it, the Shoeless Joe character from "Field of Dreams" suddenly has a resonance which that particular film could never explain (though it is nicely explained in the source for that film "Shoeless Joe") Also worth reading is "The Glory of Their Times" an oral history of early baseball.

I especially enjoyed Studs Terkel and John Sayles as the two sportswriters, Fullerton and Lardner. They're very droll. They act as a kind of Greek chorus, making cynical wisecracks, keeping the audience clued in on what's supposed to be going on. As the White Sox play out yet another crooked game, Sayles said to Terkel, "Nothing but fast balls." "Nice, sloow ones," adds Terkel. It gets better. Terkel writes a column for the Chicago paper accusing gamblers of corrupting the game of baseball and Sayles is reading it aloud. "Writers are tainting the game," or something, says Sayles. "Keep reading," says Terkel. "The game would be better off without the long-nosed, thick-lipped Eastern element preying on our boys in the field." Terkels smiles around his cigar and says, "Makes you proud to be a sportswriter, doesn't it?"

The rest of the movie is pretty good too, although I sometimes get the characters and their motives a little mixed up. The baseball scenes are very well done. I say this, being no big fan of the sport myself. Charlie Sheen (a true aficionado) looks like he's heaving a heavy bat as he clunks out a hit, not a rubber prop. I admired too the way the series games swung back and forth as the players on the take tried to figure out if they were playing for the money or for themselves. It's tough to throw a game because part of one's self always wants to do what one does best -- in this case, play baseball well. The German ethologists call it "Funktionslust." In the end, despite some indecision, they do however lose.

The movie isn't kind to the gamblers or to the owners. Comisky was incredibly cheap and greedy. The script gives this as one of the reasons why the players agreed to throw the game. As Strathairn says when someone offers him a part payment, "I don't care about the money." He's throwing the games to foul up Comisky who has just denied him a promised bonus because Strathairn, playing the pitcher Cicotte, has only played 29 games instead of the 30 they'd agreed upon. Comisky has made him sit on the bench for the last few games so he wouldn't cross the bonus threshold. (Question: Given that Comisky cheated Cicotte of the contracted bonus, was Cicotte morally justified in throwing the games?)

The movie isn't nice to the gamblers either. Not only don't they pay off but they treat the players with contempt. Arnold Rothstein ("A.R.") treats EVERYBODY rudely. He never says hello when he enters a room, never says good-bye when leaving, and never smiles.

I kind of liked this. Sayles may not be a master but his films are always highly individualized. I cannot visualize him directing "Die Hard With A Sardonic Grin."

To this day, baseball has been a huge part of Americana. And nothing has given the sport a black eye like the World Series scandal of 1919. John Sayles presents the historic swindle in "Eight Men Out." A lot of emotions are on display, as the Chicago White Sox players struggle with the moral dilemmas of the love of the game and being role models to the youth of Chicago, or their desperation caused by tight-fisted White Sox owner Charles Comiskey. Back then, many people of Chicago were ready to forgive their hometown heroes. And even now, you can't help but feel sympathy for the wronged players.

Although I generally agree with Roger Ebert's reviews, I just can't understand how he was annoyed enough with this movie to give it a measly two stars. He claims that there wasn't enough exposition. I found everything explained satisfactorily, even for the non-fan or baseball history buff. And it is period-piece film-making at its finest. I cannot imagine a better telling of this story. And the baseball action is excellent. One factual error, though: Bucky Weaver (John Cusack) would never mention Babe Ruth as better (or even comparable) to Cobb, Speaker and Wheat in 1919 or 1920. It shocks me that Sayles kept that line. USA Today heralded "Eight Men Out" as the greatest baseball movie ever, and though there is some fine company, I find it hard to disagree.