Mr. Baseball (1992)

User Rating:

5.5/10   

Director:

Fred Schepisi

Writers (WGA):

Theo Pelletier (story) &
John Junkerman (story) ...

Release Date:

2 October 1992 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance | Sport

Tagline:

An inspirational baseball movie.

Plot:

A fading baseball player is traded to a Japanese team and has trouble fitting into the society.

Plot Keywords:

Baseball | Baseball Player | Baseball Team | Television Commercial | Apology

Cast

Tom Selleck	...	Jack Elliot
Ken Takakura	...	Uchiyama, Dragon's Manager
Aya Takanashi	...	Hiroko Uchiyama
Dennis Haysbert	...	Max 'Hammer' Dubois
Toshi Shioya	...	Yoji Nishimura, Jack's Interpreter / Guide
Kosuke Toyohara	...	Toshi Yamashita
Toshizo Fujiwara	...	Ryoh Mukai
Mak Takano	...	Shinji Igarashi
Kenji Morinaga	...	Hiroshi Kurosawa
Joh Nishimura	...	Tomophiko Ohmie
Norihide Goto	...	Issei Itoi
Kensuke Toita	...	Akito Yagi
Naoki Fuji	...	Takuya Nishikawa
Takanobu Hozumi	...	Hiroshi Nakamura
Leon Lee	...	Lyle Massey

Runtime:

108 min

Country:

USA | Japan

Language:

English | Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:L | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Germany:6 | UK:15 | USA:PG-13 | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

DENTSU Music And Entertainment

Trivia:

At the end of the film, Tom Selleck's character is wearing the uniform of the Detroit Tigers. He's wearing the same baseball cap that he wore during his days on the television show, "Magnum P.I."

Goofs:

Continuity: In the locker room when "The Chief" (Uchiyama) is fining Jack for disrespect of equipment, Jack hands him an additional 10,000 Yen. The Chief asks in Japanese (and Yoji translates into English) "What is the second one for?" Jack replies, "That's for the next time." Yoji doesn't translate Jacks answer into Japanese, yet The Chief asks (again, in Japanese and Yoji translates) "He wonders when the next time will be." He inadvertently reveals that he understands/speaks English, long before when he reveals it during the scene at the grandparents' home.

Quotes:

Jack Eliot: I'm a World Series MVP!
Skip: That was four years ago, Jack. Last season, you hit .235.
Jack Eliot: LAST SEASON, I led this team in ninth-inning doubles in the month of August!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Married with Children: Dial B for Virgin (#9.7)" (1994)

Heartwarming drama hiding within sports comedy "lite"

MR. BASEBALL is a film of paradoxes. Written and filmed as a "light, sports comedy" it truly has a heartwarming core as human and universal as some of Capra's finest. At the plot level, you have the paradox of baseball, a fine old American game, as it is played in Japan - turned around, with American values cast off and Japanese values imprinted upon the game. (Some of the superficial "sports comedy" results from Jack's uncomprehending disbelief at how "basa-boru" is played in Japan.) You also have a lead character who's presented as an over-the-hill, aging baseball star, but who is actually quite immature - pro ball allowed him to postpone growing up. And you have a lead character who is rudely resistant to the changes in his life that are being forced upon him, refusing to accept the curveball that life has given him, in the midst of a new country, a new manager, a new team, and a new girlfriend, who have all welcomed him and try to accept him. Sound like heavy stuff? Not really. It's a charming "clash of cultures" comedy that takes place on the national, sports, romantic, and professional levels. But if you watch it sensitively enough, you will also find a great story about a man who has to abandon his immaturity and grow up way too late in life (causing some amount of personal pain), and finds success in places he never expected it. I love the story, but I also have great respect for Selleck's performance; he bares his tush (literally) to portray an ugly American, insulting people and throwing tantrums in public, then lets us inside this character to understand his dismay. It also doesn't hurt if you're a big fan of Takakura Ken like I am. MR. BASEBALL is a surprising "loss of innocence" tale.