Eight Men Out

John Sayles (1988)

114min

PG Certificate

Review

Our Score

by Adrian Turner

John Cusack and Charlie Sheen star in a low-key and serious exposé of corruption in the American baseball game when, in 1919, the Chicago White Sox threw the World Series. When the truth became known, it was quickly dubbed the Black Sox Scandal. Written and directed by John Sayles, the picture details the social and economic stresses of the time that led the players into the clutches of hustlers and organised crime. It's a sad and compelling piece that is totally convincing and doesn't require a knowledge of baseball (just rounders with chest hair). Sayles himself plays sports writer Ring Lardner, whose screenwriter son was one of the original "Hollywood Ten" - a group blacklisted in 1948 during the communist witch-hunt in the film industry.

Summary

Fact-based sporting drama documenting the infamous 1919 baseball scandal in which influential players involved in the World Series accepted sizeable bribes from bookmakers to fix important matches. Starring Charlie Sheen, John Cusack, DB Sweeney and Christopher Lloyd.

Cast & Crew

Buck Weaver John Cusack

Hap Felsch Charlie Sheen

Kid Gleason John Mahoney

"Shoeless" Joe Jackson D B Sweeney

Charles Comiskey Clifton James

Heydler Eliot Asinof

Eddie Cicotte David Strathairn

Ban Johnson Clyde Bassett

Dickie Kerr Jace Alexander

Ray Schalk Gordon Clapp

Swede Risberg Don Harvey

Eddie Collins Bill Irwin

Fred McMullin Perry Lang

"Lefty" Williams James Read

Chick Gandil Michael Rooker

Smitty Jim Desmond

Ring Lardner John Sayles

Hugh Fullerton Studs Terkel

Arnold Rothstein Michael Learner

Billy Maharg Richard Edson

Helen Weaver Barbara Garrick

Kate Jackson Wendy Makkena

Rose Cicotte Maggie Renzi

Lyria Williams Nancy Travis

PeeWee Brad Garrett

Bucky Tay Strathairn

Scooter Jesse Vincent

Director John Sayles

Other Information

Language: EnglishColourTheatrical distributor: Rank Film Dists LtdGuidance: Contains swearing. Available on: video and DVD

Drama

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John Sayles (1988)

Review

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