Desertman84 Eight Men Out is a drama film based on Eliot Asinof's 1963 book with the same title.It depicts the Major League Baseball's Black Sox scandal wherein in which eight members of the Chicago White Sox conspired with gamblers to intentionally lose the 1919 World Series.The cast includes John Cusack,Clifton James,Michael Lerner,Christopher Lloyd,Charlie Sheen,David Strathairn and D.B. Sweeney.The movie was written and directed by John Sayles. The Chicago White Sox is considered the greatest team in baseball and the was even considered the best ever assembled back in 1919.Unfortunately,the team's owner, Charles Comiskey, does not reward his players very well.When the gamblers heard of the players' discontent, they offer a select group of Sox especially the star pitcher Eddie Cicotte more money to play badly than they would have earned by winning if they won the World Series against the Cincinnati Reds.Then the scandal begins....This is definitely a great film that even non-baseball fans would surely enjoy and appreciate.It has great performances from the cast and it gets the viewer entertained as it gets into the details of the baseball scandal.Added to that,the themes involved was definitely more of a human tragedy especially to what happened to the players at the end.This is definitely a masterpiece among sports movies.

bigverybadtom The topic was quite interesting, especially to Chicagoans, namely the 1919 Black Sox scandal when it was discovered by suspicious reporters that several of the White Sox players were deliberately playing badly during several crucial games which would have brought the Sox into the World Series championship, and its aftermath.So where did this movie fail? Basically, it tried to cover too much with too many characters-the players, the managers, the reporters, the fans, anyone connected, so that the film lost focus. Nobody is developed, and it takes a scorecard to figure out who is who and what is going on. We don't learn exactly what went on or why. Comiskey is depicted as a skinflint who had little regard for his team, but I read elsewhere that he wasn't as bad as the movie depicted. Shoeless Joe Jackson was depicted as clueless, and while he was illiterate (still not that rare in that era), that didn't make him incapable of knowing what was going on. Also, what motivated the corrupt baseball players other than greed? They weren't working for starvation wages.The movie neither works as drama or as a depiction of history.

callanvass This is based on a true dramatization of the Blacksox scandal in 1919 when the ridiculously underpaid Chicago White Sox accept bribes to throw The World Series against the Cincinatti Reds. The players involved get a lifetime ban in the MLBI must confess that I knew very little about this classic occurrence back then. I've heard a bit about it from my Father, but I wasn't very knowledgeable on the subject. It had a great cast, and I was really interested in the story, plus. I love baseball, so I had to check it out. The story is very riveting, with a very detailed account of what happened in 1919. The character development is solid with these guys, and it takes it's time telling the story, which I really appreciated. I must also commend how fantastic the baseball action was. Not only was it extremely realistic, with retro costumes that mirrored the time period with perfect precision, but it was quite exciting as well. It had a very retroactive atmosphere to it. These aren't your ordinary movie stars who try to fake being an athlete, these guys do it all. John Cusack dives at third base to snag some rough liners. Charlie Sheen runs into a wall, by catching a tough flyball in the outfield. David Strathairn looks and feels like a knuckleball pitcher. It was very well done. The court scene at the end involving the whole ordeal was intense. Performances: John Cusack is the morally superior character here. He is excellent as Buck Weaver and very likable as well. You'll feel for him a bit at the end. David Strathairn is the morally conflicted one, and his low-key, yet powerful performance was great to watch. Charlie Sheen has the perfect combo of arrogance & likability in his role, as the flashy outfielder. I loved him. D.B Sweeney is utterly stupendous as Shoeless Joe. John Mahoney is also very good as the oblivious, yet supportive manager. Michael Rooker, Christopher Lloyd, Michael Lerner, Clifton James, Don Harvey, and the rest of the cast are rock solid. Bottom Line: Even if you don't know much about the 1919 incident, this is a highly recommended viewing experience. 8.5/10

Aaron1375 I saw this movie when I was in college, I think it was shown during my victimless crimes class as we were on the topic of gambling. This film was rather entertaining for a historical sports movie, though I basically knew how it was going to end. The story shows the White Sox at the beginning of the film clinching a berth in the World Series. A guy congratulates them and they proceed to ask about the bonus they were promised if they got to the series. Well apparently the owner of the Sox at the time was a tightwad and the only bonus they got was a few bottles of champagne. Well this gets a few of the players really angry, so angry in fact that they are willing to take money to throw the series and let Cincinati win it all. Very interesting movie, a good cast of characters in this one too. It even had John Mahoney who plays Fraiser's dad in it and he was great as he had nothing to do with the fix, but you could tell he knew something was up as his top pitchers seemed to be throwing like crap. The movie also says a lot about the time as who could really see any of today's major leaguers throwing a game for the scant amount of money the mob was going to give to the guys here. Seems sad in the end that the players involved, albeit underpaid, would rather be known as crooks and losers for a few extra dollars than be known as world champions.