Rating: 
Summary: The Best Baseball Movie Ever Made
Review: Fixing a World Series? Who could ever think that it could ever happen? But it did. And Director John Sayles stays as faithful to the Historical facts as any movie could. This movie illustrates how the poor treatment and compensation of the Chicago White Sox by owner Charlie Comiskey made them easy pray for gamblers. I felt many emotions during this movie. You didnt blame the players--you felt badly when one of the greatest teams to ever take the field was obviously "throwing" the Series. The Movie examines the players feelings, the verdict of the trial, and its consequences. Eight Men Out had a great soundtrack and the performances were first rate. If I had to find one small fault with this movie, its that they cover a lot of ground in a short time. Ive watched the movie several times and usually pick up something I previously missed.
Rating: 
Summary: Why They Did What They Did.
Review: For the longest time, I never really understood why the Chicago Black Sox did what they did. However, after doing a little research behind the 1919 Black Sox scandal, I now understand. They did what they did because Charlie Comiskey cared more about the profits in his pockets than he did about the players who played on his team. His greed and selfishness in not paying team members a decent wage made it rather easy for team members to throw some games for a propositioned profit. EIGHT MEN OUT does an excellent job of portraying Comiskey's avarice and illustrating the motivation of the eight men who were thrown out of the game.Buck Weaver was the true victim in the whole scandal because even though he was not a part of affair, he had knowledge of it and failed to inform his coach. The movie shows Weaver as the type of man he really was and its a shame he wasn't and hasn't been given a fair shake. The film also does a good job at illustrating the questions surrounding "Shoeless" Joe Jackson. Jackson was thrown out for throwing a game, but he was basically the MVP of the entire series; all he cared about was the game, not the money. Was Joe really a criminal or a simple hick caught up in something bigger than he could deal with? EIGHT MEN OUT is a really good sports movie. It's a must for any baseball fan, but is something that even the non-baseball fan may enjoy watching.
Rating:
Summary: Good, Solid Movie
Review: Good Baseball movie, somewhat inhibited by a sound track that often feels out of place. Right for the period, but quite wrong for the serious subject matter. For baseball movie fans, the depiction of Shoeless Joe Jackson is quite different from that in Field of Dreams. Some criticism regarding the lack of character development and the difficulty in telling some of the characters apart at times. This is natural given that the film is trying to follow a variety of personalities. It could have either stood for better editing or the running time could have been extended. Personally, I would have preferred a longer film, but that would hardly be to everyone's taste. The best part of the film is the internal struggle of some (only some) of the players who, even though they've bought into the concept, simply can't accept not doing their best. It's a beautiful testimony to character. Small thing: Another reviewer was bothered that Buck Weaver could not have hit 0.327 in the 1919 World Series. He is correct. Weaver hit 0.324 in 1919 and .333 in 1917. His combined average over the two Series was 0.327.
Rating: 
Summary: How about a movie called...
Review: How about if the film industry makes a movie called 'The Hammer'? Gee, they made 'Cobb, 'The Babe', 'Eight Men Out', 'Field of Dreams', 'The Pride of the Yankees', 'The Natural', and '61*'. Well, how about making a movie about Henry Aaron, Josh Gibson, Roberto Clemente, Willie Mays, or even Jackie Robinson? Oh, I forgot, baseball will never allow it...
Rating:
Summary: How about a movie called...
Review: How about if the film industry makes a movie called 'The Hammer'? Gee, they made 'Cobb, 'The Babe', 'Eight Men Out', 'Field of Dreams', 'The Pride of the Yankees', 'The Natural', and '61*'. Well, how about making a movie about Henry Aaron, Josh Gibson, Roberto Clemente, Willie Mays, or even Jackie Robinson? Oh, I forgot, baseball will never allow it...
Rating:
Summary: A Great Baseball Movie
Review: I lived in Indianapolis, Indiana when Eight Men Out was filmed there in the late 1980s. It was great to watch how the then run-down and now closed Bush Stadium was magically transformed into Cincinnati's Crosley Field and Chicago's Comiskey Park. The ensemble acting group is top notch including David Straithan as Ed Cicotte, the player ringleader of the Black Sox and John Cusack as Buck Weaver playing well the "guilty by association" role. Even Paramedic DeSoto of "Emergency" fame (Kevin Tighe) has a great role as the gambler masterminding the big fix. A fascinating movie that is well-acted and very under-appreciated. And they even got the fact that Shoeless Joe Jackson batted left-handed correct (unlike Field of Dreams). By the way, to respectfully contradict a previous poster, the White Sox did go to the World Series one time after the 1919 scandal, in 1959, where they lost to the Dodgers.
Rating:
Summary: I WANTED to love it!
Review: I love baseball and I love baseball movies. So I was ready to love this movie, yet it somehow failed to please. Great actors, great period setting, yet we are not let inside the minds of the characters. Aside from John Cusak's Buck Weaver, none of the characters are even that appealing, so we don't really care what happens to them. We know nothing about their background, why they play baseball, or what drives them. In summary, the movie just wasn't that engaging. Since most of us know the rough outline of the story already, there are no surprises. The characters were so 2-dimensional, that I almost expected them to disappear when they turned sideways! Also, the DVD has no special features at all except for a movie trailer which is just a summary of the movie. If you want a baseball movie with heart, get Field of Dreams.
Rating:
Summary: I read the book
Review: I read the book. A book can give you much more detail an insight then a two hour movie, but the John Sayles movie does a great job telling the complex story. In order to save screen time and to give the viewer the back stories, he relates incidents which occured in the Chisox 1917 Championship season and before, but places them in the 1919 Season. This helps to develop the characters and makes it much more enjoyable. It's a great peorid piece. It is very true to the book, which I would also reccomend reading. Did you know other gamblers tried to get Reds pitchers drunk to have the Redlegs lose? This story has no simularites to the Pete Rose ruling. Eddie Cicote, the 35 year old major league vet, was making less then a Reds pitcher who was in his sophmore season. The Whitesox players were getting royally ripped off. They had to eat it. There was no free agency. Baseball was making lots of money for the owners then. I can't say many people wouldn't have done the same thing if in his position. Pete Rose has a bad gambling problem, or is plain dumb, or both! In every club house there is a sign that says no gambling.
Rating:
Summary: A Must For Baseball Fans
Review: In 1919, the Chicago White Sox faced the Cincinnati Reds in the World Series. It was supposed to be an easy victory for the White Sox. After all, they had the best team in the league by far that year. What happened in the end has shocked the baseball world ever since. The White Sox threw the world series and let the Reds win. This movie does a wonderful job of telling the story of the White Sox aka "Black Sox" during that fateful year. John Cusack, D.B. Sweeney, and David Strathairn are the stars of the film, playing Buck Weaver, Joe Jackson, and Eddie Cicotte. Charlie Comiskey's infamous penny pinching is shown in the film as Cicotte was due a bonus in his contract for winning 30 games. He ended up winning 29 despite being injured for a time, but Comiskey still didn't give Cicotte his bonus. This had a major influence on Cicotte deciding to help throw the series. Sweeney does an excellent job as Jackson, the sharp hitting illiterate outfielder. He didn't take the bribe and had an excellent series, hitting well over .300. The game scenes are excellent, and the behind the scenes action with the announcers and crooks is well-done as well. In the end, each player was acquitted by a court of law for any wrong-doing, but Commissioner Kenisaw Mountain Landis, regardless of the jury's verdict, still banned the 8 Sox players from ever playing baseball again. The movie ends with Buck Weaver (Cusack) watching an old but still great Jackson (Sweeney) playing in a semi-pro game somewhere in the South. Baseball fans will surely love this excellent movie. I also recommend "61" by Billy Crystal.
Rating:
Summary: Sayles' masterpiece
Review: It's difficult not to get your personal feelings called into play when watching an obviously slanted film like EIGHT MEN OUT. John Sayles, like Oliver Stone, is an obvious agit-prop master for the left or at least for labor in its battle against owners. But so are several others movie-makers. However, those others do not get the responses that Sayles has evoked because they don't have half the talent that Sayles possesses. There is no fence-sitting when watching his films, and that's because his visions and messages are clear, uncompromising and passionate. EIGHT MEN OUT is one of his highest achievements in those regards. In his analysis of the rigging of the World Series of 1919, Sayles targets White Sox owner Comiskey as the true villain. And I believe this is accurate, if not justifiable, at the very least. The Black Sox scandal, as it came to be known, was undoubtedly the lowest point in baseball history, but it could have been avoided. Had Comiskey treated his players as they merited, it is doubtful any of it would have come about. This is not to say that these athletes were angelic: Sayles goes to great lengths to show that several of them would be easily corruptible, such as Chick Gandil (played by the underrated Michael Rooker). Other players seem to want to do the right thing, but are pushed too far by Comiskey--specifically, Eddie Cicotte, as portrayed by Sayles' favorite, David Strathairn. The enigmatic Shoeless Joe Jackson (subtly played by D.B. Sweeney) is just plain too dumb to understand the implications of his involvement. As others have noted, Jackson wound up the series' batting leader. The real moral compass of EIGHT MEN OUT is Buck Weaver, played by John Cusack in what may have been the performance of his career. Sayles' Weaver is portrayed as the victim of the ultimate betrayal for not participating in the scheme. His teammates don't back him up. The courts do not defend him. The press lumps him together with the guilty. His only crime was not being a snitch. And for that, Weaver has basically been relegated to baseball history's limbo, in spite of an above-par career. Sayles does an admirable job in evoking a justified sympathy for Buck Weaver, and Cusack captures it beautifully. EIGHT MEN OUT is not a mere baseball movie. Like much of Sayles' work, it's a film about greed, and the desire of American owners to extract as much from labor as possible, without giving anything in return. P.S. -- Sayles does a great job of portraying writer Ring Lardner. I just wish he didn't sing!
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