Film Snail

Eight Men Out
Eight Men Out

6.9

Eight Men Out

PG·1988·120m

Summary

Buck Weaver and Hap Felsch are young idealistic players on the Chicago White Sox, a pennant-winning team owned by Charles Comiskey - a penny-pinching, hands-on manager who underpays his players and treats them with disdain. And when gamblers and hustlers discover that Comiskey's demoralized players are ripe for a money-making scheme, one by one the team members agree to throw the World Series. But when the White Sox are defeated, a couple of sports writers smell a fix and a national scandal explodes, ripping the cover off America's favorite pastime.

Cast

John Cusack

John Cusack

Buck Weaver

Clifton James

Clifton James

Charles Comiskey

Michael Lerner

Michael Lerner

Arnold Rothstein

Christopher Lloyd

Christopher Lloyd

Bill Burns

John Mahoney

John Mahoney

Kid Gleason

Charlie Sheen

Charlie Sheen

Hap Felsch

David Strathairn

David Strathairn

Eddie Cicotte

D.B. Sweeney

D.B. Sweeney

'Shoeless' Joe Jackson

Don Harvey

Don Harvey

Swede Risberg

Michael Rooker

Michael Rooker

Chick Gandil

Perry Lang

Perry Lang

Fred McMullin

James Read

James Read

Lefty Williams

Jace Alexander

Jace Alexander

Dickie Kerr

Gordon Clapp

Gordon Clapp

Ray Schalk

Richard Edson

Richard Edson

Billy Maharg

Bill Irwin

Bill Irwin

Eddie Collins

Michael Mantell

Michael Mantell

Abe Attell

Kevin Tighe

Kevin Tighe

Sport Sullivan

Studs Terkel

Studs Terkel

Hugh Fullerton

John Anderson

John Anderson

Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis

James Desmond

Smitty

John Sayles

John Sayles

Ring Lardner

Eliot Asinof

Heydler

Clyde Bassett

Ban Johnson

John D. Craig

Rothstein's Lawyer

Michael Laskin

Michael Laskin

Austrian

Randle Mell

Randle Mell

Ahern

Robert Motz

D.A.

Bill Raymond

Bill Raymond

Ben Short

Barbara Garrick

Barbara Garrick

Helen Weaver

Wendy Makkena

Wendy Makkena

Kate Jackson

Maggie Renzi

Maggie Renzi

Rose Cicotte

Nancy Travis

Nancy Travis

Lyra Williams

Brad Garrett

Peewee

Tay Strathairn

Bucky

Jesse Vincent

Scooter

Jack George

Fan

Tom Surber

Fan

Tom Ledcke

Fan

David Carpenter

David Carpenter

Fan

Bert Hatch

Fan

Jerry Brent

Writer

Bruce Schumacher

Writer

Robert E. Walsh

Robert E. Walsh

Writer

Matthew Harrington

Writer

Richard Lynch

Richard Lynch

Writer

Gary Williams

Writer

Michael L. Harris

Writer

Ken Berry

Heckler

David Rice

Enemy Fan

Tom Marshall

Browns Umpire

Jack Merrill

Jack Merrill

Grabiner

Josh Thompson

Winslow

Leigh 'Little Queenie' Harris

Singer

Julie Whitney

Woman in Bar

Dana Roi

Woman in Bar

Philip Murphy

Jimmy

Stephen Mendillo

Stephen Mendillo

Monk

J. Dennis Newman

Reds Player

Charles Siebert

Charles Siebert

Reds Catcher

Jim Martindale

Cincinnati Umpire

Bill Jennings

Chicago Umpire

David Hinman

Announcer

Danton Stone

Danton Stone

Hired Killer

Patrick Grant

Irish Tenor

Tim Laughter

Betting Man

Brad Armacost

Attendant

Jim Stark

Reporter

Brad Griffith

Brad Griffith

Reporter

Steve Salge

Reporter

Dick Cusack

Judge Friend

Eaton Randles

Clerk

Max Chiddester

Nash

Rich Komenich

Jury Foreman

Patrick Brown

New Jersey Fan

John Griesemer

New Jersey Fan

Charles Yankoglu

New Jersey Fan

Michael B. Preston

New Jersey Fan

Crew

Director, Writer

John Sayles

Novel

Eliot Asinof

Reviews

GenerationofSwine

GenerationofSwine

January 14, 2023

10

Out the door, I don't think they treated Buck Weaver fairly in this...not that they made him into a villain like a lot of biopics do, but more that it didn't seem to be the story that I grew up with, being raised in the area where this was legend. Weaver wasn't really as innocent or as guilty as they made him out to be, he was more the catalyst than anything else.

That being said, it's still a movie about a legend. My dad told me the story, my grandfather told me the story, it was party of my childhood and we Cubs fans. So, walking into this, when I was 8, I already new how it was going to end, all the names involved...

...and reviewing it at almost 40, it hasn't changed at all, it's still the legend Chicago baseball fans grew up with, projected on the big screen, to sit back and take in as if you were watching the cautionary tail yourself.

And the thing is, it holds up to it. It holds up to the story of Shoeless Joe that inspired but the book (named after him) and the movie that would become Field of Dreams. It lives up to the stories that Grandpa and Dad told me from different points of view about where the guilt rested. It lives up to the stories of the darkest times during the greatest era in baseball history.

I'm writing this in 2018, the movie is set almost exactly a century ago and people are still telling stories of Joe Jackson, Ty Cobb (unfortunately slurring his name still), Babe Ruth, Buck Weaver, Honus Wagner,Cy Young, Lou Gehrig, and so many others. They became legends that Nolan Ryan could only dream of...and it was because the era was so important in the history of our national past time.

And Eight Men Out stands up to that legend and that mythological era where the gods played baseball.

It's really a must watch for any fan of the sport, and a must watch for any fan of movies in general simply because it lives up to all of that.

Media

Status:

Released

Original Language:

English

Budget:

$6,100,000.00

Revenue:

$5,700,000.00

Keywords

sports
baseball
historical figure