Eight Men Out

"When the cheering stopped, there were... Eight Men Out."

1988 2h 0m EN

👍

6.8

SOLID

★6.8TMDB · 294

DramaHistory

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Buck Weaver and Hap Felsch are young idealistic players on the Chicago White Sox, a pennant-winning team owned by Charles Comiskey - a penny-pinching, hands-on manager who underpays his players and treats them with disdain. And when gamblers and hustlers discover that Comiskey's demoralized players are ripe for a money-making scheme, one by one the team members agree to throw the World Series. But when the White Sox are defeated, a couple of sports writers smell a fix and a national scandal explodes, ripping the cover off America's favorite pastime.

“When the cheering stopped, there were... Eight Men Out.”

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Cast

John Cusack
Buck Weaver
Clifton James
Charles Comiskey
Michael Lerner
Arnold Rothstein
Christopher Lloyd
Bill Burns
John Mahoney
Kid Gleason
Charlie Sheen
Hap Felsch
David Strathairn
Eddie Cicotte
D. B. Sweeney
'Shoeless' Joe Jackson

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: John Sayles
Writers: John Sayles
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Earned back only 93% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

38 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by John Sayles, shot by Robert Richardson. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Mason Daring. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor John Tintori shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

John Cusack and Clifton James and Michael Lerner carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "When the cheering stopped, there were... Eight Men Out.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0095082 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

John Sayles directs. Robert Richardson behind the camera. Mason Daring scores. John Tintori cuts. A commercial under-performer on release. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Earned back only 93% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.
238 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
3Directed by John Sayles, shot by Robert Richardson. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Mason Daring. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor John Tintori shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6John Cusack and Clifton James and Michael Lerner carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "When the cheering stopped, there were... Eight Men Out.".
8IMDB entry: tt0095082 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

The technical file

Cinematography: Robert Richardson
Original score: Mason Daring
Editing: John Tintori
Production design: Nora Chavooshian
Makeup / hair: Bonnie Clevering
Sound: Ken S. Polk
Runtime: 120 min · 2h 0m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $6,100,000
Box office: $5,700,000
Return: 93% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG
IMDB: Eight Men Out (1988)

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John Sayles

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Community reviews

What people are saying

GenerationofSwine2023-01-14
★ 10/10
Out the door, I don't think they treated Buck Weaver fairly in this...not that they made him into a villain like a lot of biopics do, but more that it didn't seem to be the story that I grew up with, being raised in the area where this was legend. Weaver wasn't really as innocent or as guilty as they made him out to be, he was more the catalyst than anything else. That being said, it's still a movie about a legend. My dad told me the story, my grandfather told me the story, it was party of my childhood and we Cubs fans. So, walking into this, when I was 8, I already new how it was going to end, all the names involved... ...and reviewing it at almost 40, it hasn't changed at all, it's still the legend Chicago baseball fans grew up with, projected on the big screen, to sit back and take in as if you were watching the cautionary tail yourself. And the thing is, it holds up to it. It holds up to the story of Shoeless Joe that inspired but the book (named after him) and the movie that would become Field of Dreams. It lives up to the stories that Grandpa and Dad told me from different points of view about where the guilt rested. It lives up to the stories of the darkest times during the greatest era in baseball history. I'm writing this in 2018, the movie is set almost exactly a century ago and people are still telling stories of Joe Jackson, Ty Cobb (unfortunately slurring his name still), Babe Ruth, Buck Weaver, Honus Wagner,Cy Young, Lou Gehrig, and so many others. They became legends that Nolan Ryan could only dream of...and it was because the era was so important in the history of our national past time. And Eight Men Out stands up to that legend and that mythological era where the gods played baseball. It's really a must watch for any fan of the sport, and a must watch for any fan of movies in general simply because it lives up to all of that.

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