A different way of telling a story

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

After her rich husband dies and leaves her as the owner of the Cleveland Indians, "Rachel Phelps" (Margaret Whitton) devises a scheme to relocate the team to Miami. However, in order to do that legally she needs to ensure that attendance at home games falls below 800,000. To that end, she recruits the worst players she can possibly find and anxiously awaits the team's inevitable demise. What she doesn't count on, however, is the player's reaction when they learn of her plan and her total disregard for them as well. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this was a delightful baseball comedy which had featured good performances by a number of actors. Most notable in that regard was Charlie Sheen (as "Ricky 'Wild Thing' Vaughn"), Tom Berenger ("Jake Taylor"), Corbin Bernsen ("Roger Dorn") and Wesley Snipes ("Willie Mays Hayes"). Likewise, I also enjoyed the performance by Margaret Whitton who played the part in an expert manner. In short, I found this to be an entertaining comedy and I have rated it accordingly. Above average.

If there's any sport that makes for a great movie it's baseball. Perhaps I'm a little bias because I play the sport, but there's something about America's pastime that really hits home in the movies.Major League tells the made-up (but totally based on the real-life struggles of the Cleveland Indians) story of a group of misfits hired by a new owner to lose as many games as possible, to ensure her plan of moving the team down to Miami. On the outskirts, it seems like a ridiculous premise that would be something out of a spoof movie. But in reality, there's actually a good deal of dramatic heft to the story as well. Luckily, the comedy and drama both balance each other out quite well.With a memorable cast of misfits, including Charlie Sheen as the fireball pitcher Ricky Vaughn, Tom Berenger as the old but still effective Jake Taylor, Wesley Snipes as Willie Mays Hayes, Dennis Haysbert as the religious Pedro Cerrano, and of course the colorful Bob Uecker as the Indians play by play announcer. With all movies, but specifically with sports movies, you need a group of actors that have chemistry and feel like a team when they're together. Albeit extremely unconventional, the players that make up this Indians team are something else. And even though it seems like the characters are built around stereotypes, the way the actors portray them makes it never feel like stereotypical characters at all. Instead, they make for some of the most quotable lines in the history of sports films.With that said, the film definitely delves into some paint by numbers plot points for sports films. You have your ups, downs, and montages, just like all of the other great sports pictures. I also find it sometimes difficult to watch a sports film, baseball in particular, because the movies have a hard time capturing how a game flows and looks. There are moments that feel completely acted out and unnatural, and while I can give it a pass in some areas, others I can't. However, overall Major League is a fun and re-watchable sports film that gives us plenty of comedy and a surprising amount of dramatic payoff as well. P.S. It's funny how it's been 30 more years, and the Indians are still on their World Series drought.+Blend of comedy and drama+Memorable characters and performances-Predictable8.0/10

I came across this on television, and had to marvel. It's been 25 years since this band of losers and misfits came together and transformed Cleveland Indians baseball.Major League may be formulaic, especially in the second half of the film, but it is memorably unpredictable in moments and quite charming. The cast is filled with Eighties TV icons like Corbin Bernsen and future stars, like a young Wesley Snipes. It is a blast to see Tom Berenger and Charlie Sheen, who were at each others' throats in Platoon, as teammates and friends. And maybe it's my old sentimentality, but the throwaway love story between Berenger and Rene Russo feels deeper and more real than it deserves to be. A terrific and fun movie.

Major League is not only a comedy film with numerous laughs, it proves itself to be one of the grand-daddies of baseball comedies. A League of Their Own and Bull Durham are also among the list although those are more towards the drama genre. I attend various minor league baseball games a year. Approximately twelve. I love them. Being a Chicagoan, I think I'd rather watch minor league teams than major league teams.Some may call that strange, but I love the entertainment and the "close to home" feel provided by a minor league game. There are tons of events on the field to keep me interested, and I know pretty much every cop and concession stand employee there thanks to my father. It's an enjoyable time. I walk around most of the game, chat with various officers, it's a damn good time.On with the film. I can discuss Minors vs. Majors in a separate blog. After the Cleveland Indians' owner dies, her husband Rachel (Whitton) inherits the team. She plans to make the team as poor as possible so they can move the team to Miami. To put it simply, she sabotages the team, the stadium, and everything else in various ways to assure a poor season.The team is mainly made up of rookies like Willie "Mays" Hayes (Snipes), Rick "Wild Thing" Vaughn (Sheen), and Jake Taylor (Berenger). They're acceptable players, but no where near as good as they should be.One thing I really enjoyed and found worthwhile about Major League is the fact that we get closer into Jake Taylor's relationship life. It's good that all the fun doesn't take place on the field, and we get a wider variety and an in-depth look on one player's life. I would've liked to hear more about Lou Brown's (Gammon) career and more about some other players. But at least it's not all about on the field interactions.Charlie Sheen, James Gammon, and Wesley Snipes were all great in the film. It's a little sad that Gammon died this past July, and news about it really didn't surface too much. Not looking at Gammon's filmography, I assume his career wasn't made up of too many more famous roles like his portrayal of Lou Brown.Charlie Sheen was extremely hilarious in this film, but watching it only makes me more sad about he just continues to make an ass of himself to the media. His career is going straight into the ground as of now. In this film he was extremely handsome, but now his image makes him look older than he is, and his reputation is plummeting into the ground. Oh well, his role as Wild Thing was, say, WINNING.Wesley Snipes is fantastic in this as well playing Willy "Mays" Hayes. He is absolutely funny, and a great addition to the cast. Too bad for him as well because since Snipes refuses to pay his taxes, he is in prison until 2013. I really enjoyed him in movies like Blade and Passenger 57.What truly scares me is that this film has spawned two sequels. This kind of film can only be done well once, passably a second time, and pretty much end horrifically with a third film. Back to the Minors could easily make or break the franchise. Why make a sequel when Berenger and Sheen don't even return? It's all about the benjamins.Major League can be summed up with a few statements. An enjoyable baseball comedy, a cast of greats, but a cast of people whose lives either ended tragically or just were forgotten.Starring: Tom Berenger, Charlie Sheen, Corbin Bernsen, Rene Russo, James Gammon, Margaret Whitton, and Wesley Snipes. Diretded by: David S. Ward.