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Eight Men Out

  • 19881988
  • PGPG
  • 1h 59m
IMDb RATING
7.2/10
20K
YOUR RATING
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
  • IMDbPro
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.
Play trailer2:18
2 Videos
29 Photos
  • Drama
  • History
  • Sport

A dramatization of the Black Sox scandal when the underpaid Chicago White Sox accepted bribes to deliberately lose the 1919 World Series.A dramatization of the Black Sox scandal when the underpaid Chicago White Sox accepted bribes to deliberately lose the 1919 World Series.A dramatization of the Black Sox scandal when the underpaid Chicago White Sox accepted bribes to deliberately lose the 1919 World Series.

IMDb RATING
7.2/10
20K
YOUR RATING
  • Director
    • John Sayles
  • Writers
    • Eliot Asinof(book "8 Men Out")
    • John Sayles(screenplay)
  • Stars
    • John Cusack
    • Clifton James
    • Jace Alexander
Top credits
  • Director
    • John Sayles
  • Writers
    • Eliot Asinof(book "8 Men Out")
    • John Sayles(screenplay)
  • Stars
    • John Cusack
    • Clifton James
    • Jace Alexander
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 98User reviews
    • 49Critic reviews
    • 71Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 2 nominations

    Videos2

    Official Trailer
    Trailer 2:18
    Official Trailer
    Eight Men Out
    Trailer 2:18
    Eight Men Out

    Photos29

    John Cusack and D.B. Sweeney in Eight Men Out (1988)
    John Cusack, D.B. Sweeney, and Michael Rooker in Eight Men Out (1988)
    John Cusack and Barbara Garrick in Eight Men Out (1988)
    Christopher Lloyd and Richard Edson in Eight Men Out (1988)
    John Cusack, Charlie Sheen, David Strathairn, D.B. Sweeney, Don Harvey, James Read, Perry Lang, and Michael Rooker in Eight Men Out (1988)
    Charlie Sheen and James Read in Eight Men Out (1988)
    David Strathairn in Eight Men Out (1988)
    John Cusack, Charlie Sheen, and D.B. Sweeney in Eight Men Out (1988)
    Charlie Sheen and Michael Rooker in Eight Men Out (1988)
    John Cusack and John Mahoney in Eight Men Out (1988)
    John Cusack in Eight Men Out (1988)
    John Sayles, John Mahoney, and Studs Terkel in Eight Men Out (1988)

    Top cast

    Edit
    John Cusack
    John Cusack
    • Buck Weaveras Buck Weaver
    Clifton James
    Clifton James
    • Charles Comiskeyas Charles Comiskey
    Jace Alexander
    Jace Alexander
    • Dickie Kerras Dickie Kerr
    Gordon Clapp
    Gordon Clapp
    • Ray Schalkas Ray Schalk
    Don Harvey
    Don Harvey
    • Swede Risbergas Swede Risberg
    Bill Irwin
    Bill Irwin
    • Eddie Collinsas Eddie Collins
    Perry Lang
    Perry Lang
    • Fred McMullinas Fred McMullin
    John Mahoney
    John Mahoney
    • Kid Gleasonas Kid Gleason
    James Read
    James Read
    • Lefty Williamsas Lefty Williams
    Michael Rooker
    Michael Rooker
    • Chick Gandilas Chick Gandil
    Charlie Sheen
    Charlie Sheen
    • Hap Felschas Hap Felsch
    David Strathairn
    David Strathairn
    • Eddie Cicotteas Eddie Cicotte
    D.B. Sweeney
    D.B. Sweeney
    • 'Shoeless' Joe Jacksonas 'Shoeless' Joe Jackson
    James Desmond
    • Smittyas Smitty
    • (as Jim Desmond)
    John Sayles
    John Sayles
    • Ring Lardneras Ring Lardner
    Studs Terkel
    Studs Terkel
    • Hugh Fullertonas Hugh Fullerton
    Richard Edson
    Richard Edson
    • Billy Mahargas Billy Maharg
    Michael Lerner
    Michael Lerner
    • Arnold Rothsteinas Arnold Rothstein
    • Director
      • John Sayles
    • Writers
      • Eliot Asinof(book "8 Men Out")
      • John Sayles(screenplay)
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
    • All cast & crew

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    Storyline

    Edit
    A semi-fictionalized account of the scandal surrounding the 1919 World Series, coined the Black Sox Scandal, is presented. The Chicago White Sox, considered the cream of the crop and one of the best major league teams ever, has just won the American League pennant, and are odds on favorites to win the World Series against the Reds. While team owner Charles A. Comiskey publicly crows about the superiority of the team he has assembled especially in their cohesion, he is unaware that arguably the cohesion in the players' determination to win is matched only by their feeling of unappreciation by Comiskey, especially financially as he screws them over time and time again on promises made. Sensing an opportunity, professional gamblers begin to feel out who they believe may be sympathetic Chicago players to a game and/or series fixing scheme, especially lucrative seeing as the to the disparity between the two teams. There end up being eight players "in" to various degrees, from being the "all in" negotiators between the gamblers and the players, to those somewhat unaware of what is happening, to those just in the know but remain silent. Things quickly go off the rails as each individual and group is looking out solely for his own interest, from the disparate groups of players, to the gamblers, to the scheme financiers, to the team owners - Comiskey and others - as closely watching sports journalists can see that some of the Sox players are not playing as hard or as well as they can. —Huggo
    • baseball
    • chicago illinois
    • match fixing
    • world series
    • scandal
    • 20 more
    • Plot summary
    • Plot synopsis
    • Taglines
      • 1919. The year America saw major league baseball played a whole new way...underhanded.
    • Genres
      • Drama
      • History
      • Sport
    • Certificate
      • PG
    • Parents guide

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Initially, John Sayles envisioned himself in a minor role as a member of the Chicago White Sox. After working over a decade to get the script turned into a movie, he was too old to convincingly portray a ballplayer when filming started. Instead, he cast himself as sportswriter Ring Lardner.
    • Goofs
      In the film, Risberg makes an error as shortstop in the first game. In real life, Chick Gandil made the only error.
    • Quotes

      Buck Weaver: You get out there, and the stands are full and everybody's cheerin'. It's like everybody in the world come to see you. And inside of that there's the players, they're yakkin' it up. The pitcher throws and you look for that pill... suddenly there's nothing else in the ballpark but you and it. Sometimes, when you feel right, there's a groove there, and the bat just eases into it and meets that ball. When the bat meets that ball and you feel that ball just give, you know it's going to go a long way. Damn, if you don't feel like you're going to live forever.

    • 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
      Featured in At the Movies: Moon Over Parador/Eight Men Out/Running on Empty/The Thin Blue Line/Crossing Delancey (1988)
    • Soundtracks
      I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles
      Written by Jaan Kenbrovin (as Jann Kenbrovin) and John W. Kellette (as John William Kellette)

      Published by Warner Bros. Music, a division of Warner Bros. Inc.

      Used by permission. All rights reserved.

    User reviews98

    Review
    Top review
    9/10
    Great Eight
    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.
    helpful•44
    4
    • active18yos
    • Jan 19, 2005

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • June 29, 1989 (Australia)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Namjestaljka
    • Filming locations
      • Bush Stadium - 1501 W. 16th Street, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
    • Production company
      • Orion Pictures
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $6,000,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $5,680,515
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $1,129,491
      • Sep 5, 1988
    • Gross worldwide
      • $5,680,515
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 59 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Mono
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

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