Mr. Baseball (1992)
reviewed by Brian "the Naked Gun" Felts &
Benn "Where's the Humanity?" Farrell
"Mr. Baseball" stars Tom Selleck (TV's Magnum PI) playing aging baseball player, Jack Elliot, who gets traded from
the New York Yankees to a Japanese baseball team, the Chunichi Dragons--the spelling is very likely
incorrect. When he arrives, he experiences a cultural shock which in real life is overplayed,
but it helps the story move along.
Jack was traded for by the team manager Uchiyama so he can
help the Dragons beat the New York Yankees of Japan, the Tokyo Giants. Jack, acting like an
arrogant big leaguer, p**ses off his teammates and his manager, and gets put on suspension until
he can change his attitude with the help of the manager.
Off the field Jack falls for Uchiyama's
daughter Hiroko, who works for the team, and she falls for him too. There is conflict for both
of them, because he is hoping to go back to the states. She is afraid to fall in love with a
foreign baseball player, who always leaves once the season is over. There is a hint of racism
in this conflict which makes the movie a little bit more interesting.
The movie is entertaining. My biggest problem is, Jack is surrounded by people who don't
speak English except for the manager, his daughter and the assigned interpreter. There are too
many scenes in which he makes comments which at least ONE other person in crowd should be able to
understand English. So, I think Jack would be p**sing off more people than he does.
The ending of the baseball part of the movie would have been original, if it hadn't been done
three years before in the movie "Major League." The best part of the movie is the hint of racism
throughout the story. Dennis Haysbert, who played Pedro Cerrano in the movie "Major League," played
Max "the Hammer" Dubois, and he very eloquently stated the racism in Japanese baseball by saying,
"It's just like being a black man back home, except there are a lot less of us." Without this
small element, the movie goes from pretty good to okay, I guess.
This is yet another movie which people didn't see, most likely because by the time this movie
came out, people had their fill of baseball movies. "Mr. Baseball" will never compare with the
Bull Durham's of baseball movie history, but it will sure make a rainy day in July pass by.
Brian - the Naked Gun
I felt this picture was so smartly written, and so down to earth, I have problems seeing it as a comedy, the section
you'll find it in your rental store. Since major league baseball players are playing for Japanese teams
regularly, this plot was not in need of exposing, a quality comedies need to bare.
This does not mean I dislike the picture in any way. I thought it was an extremely strong human drama with
a light heart. I also felt the romance between Tom Selleck's character and Hiroko (the manager's daughter) was given
just a tad too much screen time. However, I don't think the romantic subplot hurt the pacing of the picture any.
There are a few laughs in the picture. There are obviously funny scenes, but the material does not fall into
the comedy genre.
I thought the climax and denouement were very strong and very believable. Jack's (Selleck) character growth was
extremely well scripted and again well paced, a credit to director Fred Schepisi (Six Degrees of Separation, Fierce Creatures)
and a large number of screenwriters, including Academy Award nominee Gary Ross who has penned a laundry list of
great movies like "Big," "Dave," "Pleasantville" and "Seabiscuit."
Selleck was also top of his game. His character's transformation was at no time rushed. He showed a great amount of control
over his tools as an actor. He stuck to the script and didn't try to make the movie unnecessarily funnier than already
written. This is one of my favorite movies starring the former TV star.
Overall, I think "Mr. Baseball" is the best baseball movie to come along since "Major League." However, I don't think ANYTHING
beats "Major League," as far as baseball movies go.
Benn - Where's the Humanity?
There are many baseball movies out there which people recognize right away. "Bull Durham," "Field of
Dreams," "The Natural" and "Major League" are some of the more recent movies to strike a cord with
the average baseball fan. A movie to came out after these, in the early 90's, "Mr. Baseball," is
very entertaining, but is definitely a step below the upper tier baseball films.