Major League (1989)
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81% of critics liked it
(37 reviews) -
78% of users liked it
(86,255 ratings)
Inheriting the Cleveland Indians baseball team from her late husband, covetous ex-showgirl Rachel Phelps (Margaret Whitton) wants to move the franchise to Miami, primarily to take advantage of the many personal perks she's been promised by that city. But Cleveland won't yield its lease on… More Inheriting the Cleveland Indians baseball team from her late husband, covetous ex-showgirl Rachel Phelps (Margaret Whitton) wants to move the franchise to Miami, primarily to take advantage of the many personal perks she's been promised by that city. But Cleveland won't yield its lease on the Indians unless the year's attendance falls below 800,000. Figuring that chances for this are already good given Cleveland's inability to win a pennant, Phelps tries to make doubly certain that the fans won't turn out by ordering the club manager to put together the worst team possible. The new players include has-been Jake Taylor (Tom Berenger), blind-as-a-bat pitcher Ricky Vaughn (Charlie Sheen), self-protective free agent Roger Dorn (Corbin Bernsen), and Willie Mays Hayes (Wesley Snipes), who is constitutionally incapable of hitting straight. Surprisingly, this band of misfits begins winning games, so Whitton decides to break their spirit by forcing them to fly from game to game in a World War II prop plane, assigning them a rickety old bus for road games, and divesting them of their precious whirlpool.Still, the team's talent and esprit de corps grows, especially after "Wild Thing" Ricky Vaughn dons a pair of glasses and is able to see where he's lobbing his 100-mile-an-hour pitches. Once the players are told that Phelps plans to dump them all whether they win the pennant or not, the team defiantly adopts an "us against the you-know-what" attitude. In a nailbiting 20-minute climax, the Indians face down their hated Yankee rivals in the pennant playoff game. The film's conclusion ties up several loose plot ends, notably the off-and-on romance between the irresponsible Berenger and his "ex" Lynn Wells (Rene Russo). Though set in Cleveland, Major League was filmed virtually in its entirety in Milwaukee, with the Brewers' play-by-play announcer Bob Uecker giving a terrific performance as the Indians' drink-besotted color commentator. The film represented not only the fictional comeback of the Cleveland Indians, but the actual comeback of producer/director David S. Ward, who'd been in a professional slump for several years. Though containing few surprises, Major League was a box-office smash, inspiring a 1994 sequel, inventively titled Major League II. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Directed By
- David S. Ward
- Written By
- David S. Ward
- Genres
- Sports & Fitness, Comedy
- In Theaters
- Apr 7, 1989 Wide
- Studio
- Paramount Home Video
Critic Reviews
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Elizabeth Maupin, Orlando Sentinel
It has its moments, but it also has long, slow stretches where you feel like standing up and wandering around and maybe going out to hunt up a beer. That's fine for baseball, but it's not the way movies are supposed to work.
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Carrie Rickey, Philadelphia Inquirer
Somebody should tell Ward that winning isn't everything. Character is. And this is what his movie lacks.
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Richard Corliss, TIME Magazine
Major League doesn't try too hard or aim too high, but it is pretty funny.
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Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader
Slick predictability is about all it has in mind, down to the last trite freeze-frame.
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, Variety
For sheer crowd-pleasing fun it belts one high into the left-field bleachers.
See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)
Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)
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Cast
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Tom Berenger
as Jake Taylor
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Charlie Sheen
as Rickie Vaughn
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Corbin Bernsen
as Roger Dorn
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Margaret Whitton
as Rachel Phelps
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James Gammon
as Lou Brown
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Rene Russo
as Lynn Wells
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Wesley Snipes
as Willie Mays Hayes
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Charles Cyphers
as Charlie Donovan
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Chelcie Ross
as Eddie Harris
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Dennis Haysbert
as Pedro Cerrano
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Andy Romano
as Pepper Leach
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Bob Uecker
as Harry Doyle
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Mike Bacarella
as Johnny Wynn
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Kevin Crowley
as Vic Bolito
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James Deuter
as Phil Butler
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Gary Houston
as Ross Farmer
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Marge Kotlisky
as Chaire Holloway
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Joe Liss
as Guy in Bar
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Tony Mockus Jr.
as Brent Bowden
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Ted Noose
as Lyle Matthews
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Ward Ohrman
as Arthur Holloway
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Mary Seibel
as Thelma
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Peter Vuckovich
as Haywood
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Deborah Wakeham
as Janice Bowden
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Gregory Alan Williams
as Bull Pen Guard
- Wallis Nicita
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Steve Yeager
as Duke Temple
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Jack McLaughlin-Gray
as Jerry Simmons
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Skip Griparis
as Colorman
- Harry Doyle


