Yawn. Poorly Filmed Snooze Fest.

Good movie but grossly overrated

Better Late Then Never

Absolutely Brilliant!

Viewed on DVD. Subtitles =three (3) stars. Director Fred Schepisi delivers a very limp romantic comedy with a phony, Americanized version of Japanese baseball as a back drop (those interested in the culture of real Japanese baseball may wish to read Robert Whiting's 1989 definitive book on the subject, You Gotta Have Wa). The film's plot involves an over-the-hill American major league player whose contract is bought by a Japanese team. This fish-out-of-cultural-water scenario is far better and more accurately described in Whiting's book. Some cultural nuances, however, are caught in the script including the politically-correct role of the Gaijin-player's interpreter (also described in Whiting's book). Film was not shot in a Japanese baseball park (and, aside from spectator and a few other pickup shots, does not appear to be filmed in Japan), and it sure looks it! Major film composer Jerry Goldsmith's score is surprising uneven and not that great (perhaps the orchestrations did him in?). Subtitles are missing about half the time. Slightly better than watching screen savers on Amazon Fire TV. WILLIAM FLANIGAN, PhD.

After not watching this movie for over 10 years, I happened to buy the DVD on a good sale. I haven't stopped watching it since! I'd forgotten how enjoyable this film is! Those negative or low reviews generally do so since they think many parts are predictable. SO WHAT!! Very few movies can more can be unpredictable anyway! This is one of those fun movies you can watch and enjoy over and over. The formula really works in this movie. If you like baseball, you'll like it even more. It's about a clash in cultures and the cast is excellent! Roger Ebert even liked it, predictability and all. I can't believe this only gets a 5.5 overall rating by the members! Tom Selleck is perfectly cast as the aging pro ballplayer who's contract gets sold to a Japanese baseball team and is not thrilled about playing in Japan. All of the supporting cast, especially Dennis Haysbert are also perfect for their roles. Anyone who follows baseball or has lived in Japan can confirm how the foreign ballplayers "gaigin" are treated differently. This film covers this area perfectly. Again, a truly enjoyable movie that's fun to watch over and over.

By the time you get to my review, you already know almost all you need to know about this movie. I have been a baseball fan for most of my life, growing up in the Chicago area, and going to many Cubs and White Sox games. And I have seen most of the baseball movies. This one is different and above average, with its strong international cultural component, comparing humanity's only civilized sport in an unknown venue, Japan, with my fading "National Pastime" in the United States. Watching how the Japanese have transformed our sport is unnerving at first, but I eventually relaxed and went with the flow. At least on film, the "Dragons" play on an incredibly ugly dirty field, with people jammed in around wall-to-wall like sardines. In fact, Japanese cultural differences are mostly caused by extreme overpopulation, where every time they turn around, they hit someone. Concealing emotion behind courtesy keeps their world from tipping into total chaos. Luckily, the baseball action looks official, because a lot of the players are retired professionals. Sellick also had some training as a ball player in his past. The movie is about Tom Sellick's behavioral transformation from "The Ugly American Strikes Out Again" to "The Guy Who Fits In Everywhere Without Needing a Baseball Bat"; with his new fellow jocks, the Type A manager, his love interest, and even the owner/investors. Tom overplays his initial jerk phase, making his realizations about how to succeed in a foreign culture seem less plausible, but emphasizes his cultural evolution. Sellick, an actor with extreme staying power and a new series in 2010, has a universally excellent supporting cast. Although I have never visited Japan, seeing this movie makes that eventuality less likely. I don't like naked reinforced concrete walls and raw steel, displayed here in abundance. Thanks to our WWII carpet bombing, at least the Japanese don't make their buildings out of wood and paper anymore!

I agree with BigAlC - this movie actually prepared me for a lot of the cultural differences and practices before I went to live in Japan for a year in 1993. Tom Selleck does a fantastic job here, as always, and the movie is greatly humorous and educational. I'm a big fan of Tom Selleck's, and he blesses this part with his usual charm and charisma to this part, bringing the film to life in a way I can't imagine any other actor being able to pull off. This film featured some first-rate Japanese actors, and it was highly entertaining to watch them as they interacted with Selleck - I can imagine the fun he had during the actual filming of the movie - Japan's an awesome place to go, whether you want to party, sight-see or just try to take everything in.