Tries To Be A Bit Too Much, But Still A Solid Effort

Rating: 6/10 (11 March 2017)

As a passionate fan of the game of baseball and thus, by extension, films about the national pastime, I have come to the conclusion that there really are just two camps that baseball movies fall into:
First, there is the Kevin Costner style of doing baseball (Field of Dreams, For The Love Of The Game, etc.) that romanticize (almost to a religious level) the game and relate it to real life on a very personal level.
Then, there are films like Little Big League, which don't take themselves seriously at all, yet that is the whole point...as neither do many big league ballplayers! These types of films, while short on plot and substance, are incredibly funny and speak to the type of humor that is needed to emotionally survive such a long "work week" (162-game season).
The film "Major League" is obviously a comedy, as its cast of characters is as goofy as goofy can get. There's the crazy psychopath (played by Charlie Sheen), the high-ego strutter (Wesley Snipes), the crazy voodoo guy (Dennis Haysbert), the serious, play-to-win guy (Tom Berenger), and even the gruff manager who's seen it all and his face never cracks (James Gammon). Plus, even the eccentric announcer ("Juuuuuuuuuuust a bit outside"-Bob Uecker) is thrown into the mix. When that nutty lot is thrown together on the field because the owner of the Cleveland Indians wants attendance to drop so bad that she can move the team out of town, hilarity ensues!
Yet, I actually think that what held this movie back a bit (dropping it from a four to three star rating) was the fact that, at times, it tried to take itself a bit too seriously. This is best personified in the film's focus on Tom Berenger's character, who is the only character that really has any kind of backstory whatsoever. True, his inspiration is needed to rally the troops towards the end of the season, but all the scenes involving his personal life/romance really just make you wish you could get back to the baseball diamond.
Thus, although Major League is considered to be one of the classic baseball films of all-time (and I will admit it has its share of iconic moments and characters), it suffers a bit from wandering too far from the formula that made it that way...comedy. If you don't mind a little clichéd sappiness with your humor, though, you won't have a problem. I recommend watching this film just for the sheer experience of it, but don't be expecting the come away with it ranking in your Top Ten.