Eight Men Out (1988)

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

Writers:

Eliot Asinof (book), John Sayles (screenplay)

Stars:

John Cusack, Clifton James, Jace Alexander

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jace Alexander	...	Dickie Kerr
John Cusack	...	Buck Weaver
Gordon Clapp	...	Ray Schalk
Don Harvey	...	Swede Risberg
Bill Irwin	...	Eddie Collins
Perry Lang	...	Fred McMullin
John Mahoney	...	Kid Gleason
James Read	...	Lefty Williams
Michael Rooker	...	Chick Gandil
Charlie Sheen	...	Hap Felsch
David Strathairn	...	Eddie Cicotte
D.B. Sweeney	...	'Shoeless' Joe Jackson
James Desmond	...	Smitty (as Jim Desmond)
John Sayles	...	Ring Lardner
Studs Terkel	...	Hugh Fullerton

Storyline

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.

---

Plot Keywords:

baseball | baseball movie | chicago illinois | match fixing | baseball team | 

---

Taglines:

The Scandal That Rocked A Nation

---

Genres:

Drama | History | Sport

---

Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

29 June 1989 (Australia)

Also Known As:

Eight Men Out

Filming Locations:

Bush Stadium - 1501 W. 16th Street, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$6,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$1,129,491, 5 September 1988

Gross USA:

$5,680,515

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$5,680,515

Company Credits

Production Co:

Orion Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

119 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The baseball scenes for the movie were filmed in Indianapolis which is almost halfway between Chicago and Cincinnati. Their train trips would've gone right through Indianapolis as well.

---

Goofs

Dickie Kerr tells Kid Gleason that he remembers the first ball game he ever went to, where Gleason pitched a no-hitter to beat Cy Young 1-0. Kerr was born in July 1893. Gleason became a full-time infielder in 1895. He pitched for St. Louis, Kerr's home town, in 1892, 1893, and 1894. Kerr could have attended a game where Gleason pitched, but he probably wouldn't remember it. Plus, Kid Gleason never threw a no-hitter.

---

Quotes

Ring Lardner: [serenading White Sox after game 5, to the tune of "I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles"] I'm forever blowing ballgames, pretty ballgames in the air. I come from Chi, I hardly try, just go to bat and fade and die. Fortune's coming my way, that's why I hardly care. I'm forever blowing ballgames, and the gamblers treat us fair.

---

Crazy Credits

During the opening credits of the movie, they are done against a blue cloudy sky up, then to the right and down to the bottom. Despite the ensemble cast, the most well-known leading and character actors at the time were credited first in alphabetical order, then lesser known actors that had roles that were just as large or larger were credited in pairs of two. Example: John Cusack, Christopher Lloyd, and Charlie Sheen were credited first, due to their successes with The Sure Thing, Back to the Future, and Platoon, respectively, but in pairs, Michael Rooker, Kevin Tighe, and Richard Edson also had pivotal roles, but were lesser known. Charlie Sheen was already well-established, but had no more than a few minutes of screen time the entire movie, Christopher Lloyd and Richard Edson were always together playing gamblers, but Lloyd was a much more well-known actor and credited first.

---

Alternate Versions

Five seconds were cut from the British theatrical release in order to obtain a "PG" rating by removing a use of strong language. The film was later released uncut on video and the rating was upgraded to "15", which was subsequently downgraded to "12" for the DVD.

---

Connections

Referenced in Sports Jeopardy!: Episode #1.1 (2014)

---

Soundtracks

I Be Blue
Written by John Sayles and Mason Daring
Performed by Leigh 'Little Queenie' Harris

User Reviews

Solid sports drama

I've never been a fan of baseball. The only movies about baseball that could interest me were comedies ("Major league" , "Dullham bulls") . Until I've seen "Field of dreams" and this one. Then I realized that you could make a serious movie with baseball in it.

"Eight men out" is a story about corruption. The movie never takes any side , it allows us to choose our own interpretation of whole story. It seems that everyone here has some sins – the players , the club owners, the journalists and frauds.

The movie has cast full of stars – John Cusack ("Say anything"), Christopher Lloyd ("Back to the future") , Charlie Sheen (TV series "Two and half men") , Michael Rooker ("Cliffhanger") . It's entertaining even for someone who doesn't know a thing about baseball (like me). It's quite long movie (almost 2 hours) , yet never a moment is wasted . The atmosphere of the post - I world war America is top notch , especially the music .

A good movie worth a chance . Recommended for sports fans. I give it 7/10.