Eight Men Out

Directed by John Sayles, Eight Men Out follows several members of the 1919 Chicago White Sox, including John Cusack’s Buck Weaver, David Strathairn’s Eddie Cicotte, and D.B. Sweeney’s Shoeless Joe Jackson, as they agree to throw the World Series in exchange for a $10,000 payout. Filmmaker Sayles, armed with his own screenplay, does a superb job of initially drawing the viewer into the deliberately-paced proceedings, as Eight Men Out benefits from its inherently compelling subject matter and raft of compelling, eye-catching performances – with, in terms of the latter, Sayles eliciting lived-in performances from folks like Christopher Lloyd, Charlie Sheen, and Michael Lerner. (John Mahoney’s turn as the team’s down-to-earth, scrupulously honest manager remains an ongoing highlight, to be sure.) It’s equally clear, however, that Eight Man Out‘s focus on the minutia of the real-life events ensuring that the picture is rarely as engrossing as one might’ve hoped, with the inside-baseball atmosphere essentially (and effectively) perpetuating an arms-length feel that remains in place from start to finish – which is a shame, ultimately, given that the movie contains a whole surfeit of above-average elements and attributes. (The closing stretch is quite stirring and emotional, though, admittedly.)

**1/2 out of ****