Eight Men Out (1988) 7.2
A dramatization of the Black Sox scandal when the underpaid Chicago White Sox accepted bribes to deliberately lose the 1919 World Series. Director:John Sayles |
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Eight Men Out (1988) 7.2
A dramatization of the Black Sox scandal when the underpaid Chicago White Sox accepted bribes to deliberately lose the 1919 World Series. Director:John Sayles |
|
| Watch Trailer 0Share... |
| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| John Cusack | ... | ||
| Clifton James | ... | ||
| Michael Lerner | ... | ||
| Christopher Lloyd | ... | ||
| John Mahoney | ... | ||
| Charlie Sheen | ... | ||
| David Strathairn | ... | ||
| D.B. Sweeney | ... | ||
| Michael Rooker | ... | ||
| Don Harvey | ... | ||
| James Read | ... | ||
| Perry Lang | ... | ||
| Gordon Clapp | ... | ||
| Jace Alexander | ... | ||
| Bill Irwin | ... |
Eddie Collins
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The great Chicago White Sox team of 1919 is the saddest team to ever win a pennant. The team is bitter at their penny pincher owner, Charles Comiskey, and at their own teammates. Gamblers take advantage of this opportunity to offer some players money to throw the series. (Most of the players didn't get as much as promised.) But Buck Weaver and the great Shoeless Joe Jackson turn back at the last minute and try to play their best. The Sox actually almost come back from a 3-1 deficit. Two years later, the truth breaks out and the Sox are sued on multiple counts. They are found innocent by the jury but baseball commissioner Landis has other plans. The eight players are suspended for life, and Buck Weaver, for the rest of his life, tries to clear his name. Written by Patrick Lynn <pjustinl@worldnet.att.net>
Everything's right in this period piece on baseball's darkest moment. Film eschews standard Hollywood overkill and presents things as they actually happened [you won't see Shoeless Joe talking like a Harvard grad in this one]; also avoids taking sides between greedy players and greedy owner, and lets you decide who screwed who. Fantastic atmosphere. Cusack as Buck Weaver, on the fringes of the scandal, and David Strathairn, as ace pitcher Eddie Cicotte, lead a cast which is solid through the whole lineup.