‘MR. BASEBALL’: A 90s DRAMAEDY THAT IS A HIT OR MISS FOR AUDIENCE
From the 90s, Mr. Baseball is part comedy, part drama. It also operates in a way that doesn’t feel as if it has all that structured of a story. Nonetheless, it has its hits.
Mr. Baseball (1992) Film Review
After multiple highs including an MVP honor, NY Yankees player, Jack Elliot (Tom Selleck) is about to have more than a few misses to contend with. Traded to a Japan baseball team, Jack finds more than just a few differences in his version of baseball and this central Japan team. But with a stubborn and strict coach, and a group of teammates where a language barrier isn’t their only challenge, Jack will have choices to make.
Does he rely on the help of his fellow American player Max Dubois (Dennis Haysbert) to help him make this year work? Or does he give up without really putting in the effort?
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⚾☀️‘MR. BASEBALL’: A 90s DRAMAEDY THAT IS A HIT OR MISS FOR AUDIENCE☀️⚾ #TOMSELLECK STARS IN THIS FILM FROM THE 90S. #MOVIES #MOVIEREVIEW #REVIEWS #PRIME #AMAZONPRIME Share on XFeaturing one of TV’s current patriarchs, this is one of those 90s comedies that I’m not immediately in love with. I think the premise is fun and I’ve seen similar sports films with a comeback story but this one doesn’t do it well. I’m not sure how to explain the “why” of this, but I think most of this is directing fault. Sometimes things just seem like there’s no real direction and yet we have these scenes of the team playing (understandable), but little about them fits or flows. This I think is the main issue. In part I think the scenes are overlong which means it kind of bogs down the film.
The moments of characterization are good though and I do like how Jack and his coach (Ken Takakura) eventually learn from each other is fun to see. As is the final game where we see more teamwork and really prior to this too. It’s a nice fuller circle plot which helps give this more of a story. The ending is also cute, too with another full circle throwback.
If you don’t mind films that are rough around the edges, Mr. Baseball isn’t bad. It does move slower and there’s not enough of a story thread for me to fully commit, but I did enjoy it. Plus, it does have lots of reviews on Amazon with a decent average rating so there is an audience. You just have to discover if that’s you.
Content: there’s a scene of a man waking up and getting out of bed naked (he covers his front with a bundle of clothes). Later, another scene where a woman “washes” a man and he tells he that he knows this is “innocent” but he is a man. She then starts to kiss him. We see them in bed together. There are a few scenes of backside male nudity in the locker rooms. GD is used a lot and there’s jokes made using male anatomy or sex. The film is PG-13.
Photos: Universal Pictures
