The Sandlot (1993)
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63% of critics liked it
(35 reviews) -
86% of users liked it
(237,657 ratings)
The Sandlot is sparsely narrated by the main character (now an adult) who occasionally drops in on the action to comment on events or help move the story along. Tom Guiry plays Scotty Smalls, the shy new kid on the block who wants to join the rowdy pickup baseball team that plays every day in the… More The Sandlot is sparsely narrated by the main character (now an adult) who occasionally drops in on the action to comment on events or help move the story along. Tom Guiry plays Scotty Smalls, the shy new kid on the block who wants to join the rowdy pickup baseball team that plays every day in the neighborhood sandlot. But he doesn't know how to catch a baseball, and his stepfather (Dennis Leary) is too busy to teach him. He tries out for the sandlot gang anyway, and though he isn't very good, it turns out he's lucky: there happen to be only eight of them, and nine makes a team. The summer passes blissfully as Scotty learns to play ball under the wing of Benny Rodriguez (Mike Vitar), the oldest and best player, as well as Ham, Squints, Repeat, and the rest of the kid-eccentrics. The skies darken, however, when Benny literally knocks the stuffing out of the team's only baseball, a sign of impending doom, or worse, bad luck. Wanting to set things right, Scotty returns home and "borrows" his stepfather's ball, which he promptly uses to hit his first home run, knocking the ball clear out of the sandlot into mean old Mr. Mertle (James Earl Jones)'s junkyard, home to Mertle's legendary guard dog The Beast. Scotty admits that he took the ball without asking, and he naively explains that his stepfather will want it back since it had a woman's name written on it: some lady named Babe Ruth. Horror-stricken, the sandlot gang mobilizes to fetch the autographed ball from the clutches of The Beast, building a series of mechanical ball-retrieval machines which get progressively more complicated and preposterous as The Beast's size grows in their imaginations. ~ Anthony Reed, Rovi
- Directed By
- David M. Evans, Chauncey Leopardi
- Written By
- David Mickey Evans, Robert Gunter
- Genres
- Drama, Kids & Family, Sports & Fitness, Comedy
- In Theaters
- Apr 1, 1993 Wide
- Studio
- 20th Century Fox
Critic Reviews
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Leonard Klady, Variety
Sweet and sincere, the film is also a remarkably shallow wade, rife with incident and slim on substance.
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, Time Out
Ever since Stand by Me, it seems that every Boy's Own yarn is deemed incomplete without a nostalgic, pseudo-ironic voice-over waxing lyrical about the mythology of short pants and acne.
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Janet Maslin, New York Times
Nothing about his modest coming-of-age comedy demands anything like this awestruck approach.
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James Berardinelli, ReelViews
Predictable as the movie is, the Field of Dreams quality is not the only thing to like about The Sandlot.
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Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
This is a movie... that allows its kids to be kids, that shows them in the insular world of imagination and dreaming that children create entirely apart from adult domains and values.
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 Guiry
as Scotty Smalls
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Mike Vitar
as Benjamin Franklin Rodriguez
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Patrick Renna
as Hamilton "Ham" Porter
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Chauncey Leopardi
as Michael "Squints"' Palledorous
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Marty York
as Alan "Yeah-Yeah" McClennan
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Karen Allen
as Mom
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Brandon Quintin Adams
as Kenny DeNunez
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James Earl Jones
as Mr. Mertle
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Grant Gelt
as Bertram Grover Weeks
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Shane Obedzinski
as Tommy "Repeat" Timmons
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Denis Leary
as Bill
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Art La Fleur
as "The Babe"
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Bob Apisa
as Home Plate Umpire
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Keith Campbell
as Thief
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Victor di Mattia
as Timmy Timmons
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Chuck Fick
as Giants Catcher
- Arliss Howard
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Herb Muller
as Young Mr. Mertle
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Garret Pearson
as Police Chief
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Marley Shelton
as Wendy
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Maury Wills
as Coach
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Cleve Hall
as Beast Puppeteer
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Robbie T. Robinson
as 3rd Base Umpire
- Shari Rhodes
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Wil Horneff
as Phillips
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Dennis Williams
as Giants 3rd Baseman
- Daniel Zacapa
- Victor DiMattia
- Art LaFleur







