In the spirit of Oscar season, Paul Lanning offers his 15 favorite movies about the national pastime.
(This post originally appeared at Above The Field)
As fall turns to winter I always start watching more movies, both at theaters and at home. At the same time, I’m in withdrawal since there’s no baseball to watch and the Giants’ off-season looks to be pretty quiet. So I started recalling my favorite baseball movies, especially since I’ll be watching many of these yet again in the coming weeks as I await the start of spring training.
I’ve seen dozens of lists of top 10 baseball movies and top 10 sports movies over the years, and usually have disagreed with them (as you no doubt will with mine), but I don’t think I’ve ever actually done one. So here goes. My list stretches to 15, but who’s counting?
(I should note, these are simply my ‘favorites.’ I’m not one to say what’s ‘best.’)
1. For Love of the Game – Most lists I see place one of Kevin Costner’s other two baseball films, ‘Bull Durham’ or ‘Field of Dreams,’ at the top. I love both those movies, especially ‘Bull Durham,’ but this one—a great bookend to ‘Bull Durham’ in many ways—is my favorite. Costner captures the essence of baseball, of the lone wolf male, of the challenges of overcoming that mindset. The broadcast by Vin Scully woven throughout the movie is pure poetry, and I love Kelly Preston. And like in so many baseball movies, the manager is a hoot. I thought J.K. Simmons was perfect; just a touch of comic relief blends into the drama and romance when Costner’s veteran pitcher interacts with Simmons’ crusty, beleaguered manager. Similarly, John C. Reilly, though perhaps a bit of a stretch as a ballplayer (watching him run the bases was comical), was perfect as the devoted veteran catcher. This movie is really a love letter from Costner to the game of baseball as much as it is a compelling story about a man realizing he’s aging, and all alone.
2. The Natural – Until ‘For Love of the Game’ came along, this was by far my favorite baseball movie, and now it’s either 1A or 1B depending on the day. It’s a visual masterpiece and chock full of compelling characters and great storylines. Robert Redford is stellar, as usual, and supporting performances by Robert Duvall, Wilford Brimley, Richard Farnsworth, and Darren McGavin are masterful. I remember reading Bernard Malamud’s book and noting the many differences between that and the film, but also how well the book translated to the screen. This is the ultimate fairy tale film, and I still get goosebumps watching that final game.
3. Bull Durham – The classic minor league story. I love Costner’s weary career minor-league catcher, and appearances by Max Patkin, the Durham Bull, and other slices of real life lend an authentic feel. This is a clever movie that goes beyond the comedy, full of memorable quotes and scenes on and off the diamond.
The top three all have one theme in common—the aging, solitary ballplayer who discovers that what he’s lacking in his life might be someone with whom to share that life. To me the list could easily end here and be complete. These three films rank head and shoulders above the rest, but maybe that’s just because that common theme resonates so loudly to me.
4. Field of Dreams – I just watched this again this week. It’s actually held up better than I thought, though the special effects (Ray Kinsella’s vision of the field early in the movie, the Fenway scoreboard message, etc.) are clearly dated. However, my biggest criticism of the movie has also held up: Amy Madigan’s character (Ray Kinsella’s wife) is just obnoxious. It’s more than made up for by the great Burt Lancaster and James Earl Jones, and by the father-son storyline, but she distracts from what is otherwise a fine fairy tale of a film.
5. Major League – The sequels got progressively worse, as sequels often do, but the original was a lot of fun. The memorable lines from Bob Uecker alone were worthwhile, and ‘80s actors like Corbin Bernsen (‘L.A. Law’) mixed with stars Tom Berenger and Rene Russo, up-and-comers Charlie Sheen, Dennis Haysbert, and Wesley Snipes, and some talented character actors to create a film that’s still fun to watch today. And the similarities between these fictionalized Cleveland Indians and the 2012 Oakland A’s was uncanny, right down to the zany characters, the imposing Cuban slugger, and the owner who doesn’t spend money on the club or stadium while hoping to relocate to a new ballpark, only to see the team unexpectedly reach the playoffs.
6. Long Gone – A lot of people never saw this made-for-HBO movie from the late 1980s, featuring William Petersen (post-‘Manhunter,’ way before ‘CSI’), a young and gorgeous Virginia Madsen, the even younger Dermot Mulroney, and the late Larry Riley, who starred on TV’s ‘Knots Landing.’ This is a fun movie about a 1950s minor league club in the Deep South dealing with racism, scheming owners (a la ‘Major League’ and ‘The Natural’), and of course a romance between Madsen and Petersen. Very much worth watching if you haven’t seen it, IF you can find it. The Bleacher Report blog featured a story on ‘Long Gone’ last year.
7. The Rookie – This to me was one of the better Disney sports films (along with ‘Remember The Titans’) that seemed to be a response to the success of ‘Rudy.’ I was unimpressed with ‘Miracle,’ which should have been much more memorable than it was, and the same was true of ‘Glory Road.’ But ‘The Rookie,’ featuring an engaging Dennis Quaid in a role he nailed, was quite entertaining. It helped that the baseball scenes, from the practice fields to the big leagues, seemed authentic, and Quaid easily moves between coach, teacher, father, and ballplayer. A great story and a fine adaptation. My daughter and I both enjoy this one.
8. Eight Men Out – In some ways this is required viewing for fans of ‘Field of Dreams.’ It’s a great companion piece giving the history behind a key plot point in that movie. It’s also a fantastic film in its own right, with a standout cast (including John Cusack and Charlie Sheen in a dramatic, very un-‘Major League’ role), fine period costumes and scenery, and a powerful script that also centers in part on the plight of the great Shoeless Joe Jackson. There haven’t been many true baseball stories that became great baseball films, but this is one.
9. 61*, Billy Crystal’s terrific recounting of the Mantle-Maris magic of 1961 is one of the better HBO movies period. This reaches my personal Top Ten not only because it’s really, really well done, but also because it captures an era so well, like The Natural and Eight Men Out do. I love movies that make you feel like you’re watching that time and place, and Crystal nailed it with 61*.
10. Bang the Drum Slowly – A tearjerker along the lines of Brian’s Song, borrowing heavily from Lou Gehrig’s real-life story to depict a young, slow-witted Yankees catcher (played by a very young Robert DeNiro) afflicted with a terminal disease, and the relationship he has with the team’s star pitcher (played by Michael Moriarty, a fine actor who later starred in the original ‘Law & Order’ and has been in dozens of movies and TV shows).
11. The Sandlot is perhaps the only movie I can recall that accurately depicts what baseball means to kids who just love to play the game. Thd movie is about summertime pickup games on “the sandlot” and the adventures that inevitably happen when a bunch of kids (mostly unknown child actors, perfect in this movie) hang out together. Brings back some of my fondest memories of childhood every time I see it. And there’s the bonus of James Earl Jones again. He just makes any movie that much better.
12. The Bad News Bears (the original, not the remake) – I was a kid playing Little League ball when this movie came out, and it was the first baseball movie I remember seeing. It was fun, funny, and inspirational, with memorable characters and of course the classic underdog storyline that serves sports movies so well. I didn’t bother with the remake starring Billy Bob Thornton that came out a few years ago. Some things just shouldn’t be messed with, and Walter Matthau’s original performance as Morris Buttermaker is one of them.
13. Moneyball – I wrote about this film last year. I enjoyed it when I saw it, but I have too many problems with what was at least supposed to be something of a true story. The story is compelling, and Brad Pitt is simply terrific as Billy Beane, but there are too many historical inconsistencies for this to rank higher for me.
14. A League of Their Own – Terrific movie—some very entertaining characters, and again the history feels real. And of course the Tom Hanks line, “There’s no crying in baseball!” is a classic that’s entered the American lexicon. But it comes off a bit campy after a couple of viewings. The novelty of Madonna and Rosie O’Donnell wears off after a while.
15. Cobb, starring Tommy Lee Jones, was a fantastic character portrait of a great player and flawed person. I thought Jones was remarkable in the movie, as he has been in many other films (including ‘Lincoln’ currently). But this one just misses my Top Ten.
There have been plenty of others, but they don’t make my list of favorites.
The Babe, starring John Goodman as Babe Ruth, could have, like ‘Cobb,’ been a compelling study of an American icon. Instead, it was essentially a live-action comic book.
Fear Strikes Out (1957), the true story of Jimmy Piersall as played by ‘Psycho’ star Anthony Perkins, was a study in mental illness and of overcoming the odds. I’m not sure how well it stands up today.
Pride of the Yankees is even older, made in 1942 not long after Lou Gehrig’s passing. Despite a cast headed by the great Gary Cooper, it’s a schmaltzy, vapid ‘tribute’ to Gehrig without any real character development. Like this reviewer, I hope one day Gehrig’s story can be re-told on film in a way that does him justice.
Mr. Baseball was a lightweight of a movie about an aging American slugger who heads to Japan to extend his career, but I like Tom Selleck and if you can ignore the silliness of parts of the film (like the all too predictable romance with the daughter of his Japanese manager), it wasn’t bad overall, in part because Selleck at least looked the part of an aging slugger.
Speaking of lightweight, there are plenty of silly comedies and breezy romances centering around baseball, including Angels in the Outfield (from that awful era when Disney linked its movies, theme parks, and sports franchises in a mass marketing machine), Stealing Home, Fever Pitch, Mr. 3000 (Bernie Mac as a future Hall of Famer? Puh-leeze), and Summer Catch, but I wouldn’t call any of these works of art.
The recent Clint Eastwood/Amy Adams/Justin Timberlake concoction, Trouble with the Curve had potential, but didn’t live up to it. Predictable story, with too many black and white characters, like the contemptible high school slugger, the devious assistant GM, etc. And the movie tries too hard to thumb its nose at ‘Moneyball’ by stressing how important scouts are and how ridiculous computers are, when the truth is both matter—something ‘Moneyball’ also got wrong.
However, for the truly BAD we need to move to my least favorite baseball movie ever. And it’s not even close. The Fan is a lurid, sensationalized attempt to capitalize on the Barry Bonds era by casting Wesley Snipes as a San Francisco Giants slugger stalked by a crazed fan, none other than Robert DeNiro. As much as I’ve always liked Snipes and DeNiro (and their previous roles in movies like ‘Major League’ and ‘Bang the Drum Slowly’), I hated this film. Maybe it’s because I’m a Giants fan, but I thought it was pretty pathetic all the way around.
A couple of new baseball-themed movies are in development. Billy Crystal, a devoted fan and the man behind ’61*’, is doing ‘Us & Them,’ playing a minor league baseball broadcaster. And previews for the new Jackie Robinson biopic ’42’ have been running in theaters in advance of its 2013 release. Hopefully both these films will wind up as memorable additions to any list of baseball movies, alongside those I’ve listed here.
Let me know what I missed. What haven’t I seen that should be added to this list?