Eight Men Out Movie Review 1988

Taken from Eliot Asinof's book, a moving, full-blooded account of the infamous 1919 "Black Sox" scandal, in which members of the Chicago White Sox teamed to throw the World Series for $80,000. A dirge of lost innocence, this is among Sayles' best films. Provides an interesting look at the "conspiracy" that ended "Shoeless" Joe Jackson's major-league career. The actual baseball scenes are first-rate, and Straithairn, Sweeney, and Cusack give exceptional performances. Sayles makes an appearance as Ring Lardner. Enjoyable viewing for even the non-sports fan.

Distribution

Facets Multimedia, Inc., 1517 W. Fullerton Ave., Chicago, IL 60614, Phone: (773)281-9075, Toll-free: 800-331-6197, Fax: (773)929-5437, Email: sales@facets.org, URL: http://www.facets.org

Available on VHS, DVD
Running time 121 minutes.

Cast and Crew

Genres

Director/Star Teams: Sayles & Strathairn, Period Piece: 1910s, Baseball, Gambling, Sports Dramas, True Stories, Historical Drama, Front Page, Books to Film: Eliot Asinof, Books to Film: Eliot Asinof, Director/Star Teams: Sayles & Clapp

Screenplay

John Sayles

Cast

John Cusack, D.B. Sweeney, Perry Lang, Jace Alexander, Bill Irwin, Clifton James, Michael Rooker, Michael Lerner, Christopher Lloyd, Studs Terkel, David Strathairn, Charlie Sheen, Kevin Tighe, John Mahoney, John Sayles, Gordon Clapp, Richard Edson, James Read, Don Harvey, John Anderson, Maggie Renzi, Michael Mantell, Nancy Travis, Michael Laskin, Barbara Garrick, Wendy Makkena

Cinematography

Robert Richardson

Director

John Sayles

Music

Mason Daring

Producer

Sanford/Pillsbury Productions, Orion Pictures