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The Sandlot (1993)
Rate:
8
Viewed:
7/21
7/21:
The Sandlot was already a classic baseball picture in 1993, and I still remember everything despite not
seeing it again until now.
All of the child actors are natural, and they can play baseball, too. There are nice random moments from time
to time to make this one memorable. It's interesting to see James Earl Jones and Art LaFleur because both were
in a similar picture called Field of Dreams. However, The Sandlot
has some stuff that I don't like.
One, because it's an ensemble picture, not all nine boys are equally developed. I can't remember the names for
five or so if I'm forced to. Smalls and Benny have the most screen time. Ham is next with Squints grabbing some
attention. The rest are forgettable.
Two, for a kid's movie, it has some profanity and bullying going on. "Shit" was uttered several times, yet the
writers couldn't come up with a better word? It's an easy fix in order to make the film appropriate for people
of all ages. Bullying is one big reason why kids have tuned out of sports, let alone baseball, because of failing
to measure up.
Three, I hate how the Beast is initially big and then downsized to a regular dog in the long run. It does take a
lot of bite away from the suspense by the time Benny is on the other side of the fence. Now, I can't help but
wonder if the white kids were afraid of going over the house because the occupant was black. While this was
happening, I thought, "Why not just knock the door and find out first?" It would've saved a lot of trouble.
The fact that Mr. Mertle used to play ball and that he was friends with Babe Ruth is unbelievable. Then, it's
topped by having no problem with giving away an autographed ball by the entire 1927 New York Yankees team. Like
it will happen in real life.
All in all, The Sandlot is a creative baseball picture, regardless of the negatives.