Common Sense Note
Parents need to know that this R-rated sports comedy includes a great deal of foul language. In some scenes nearly every other word is an obscenity. The rest of the movie is pretty tame, however. You'll find some drinking and cigar-smoking, plus there are a couple of discreet love scenes and some glimpses of players' backsides in the locker room.
Families can talk about determination and overcoming obstacles. What starts out as a group of "losers" without a chance turns into the little team that could. How does the owner's lack of confidence affect the players? Why is it so compelling to root for the underdog? Kids: name your favorite sports movies.
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Sandie Angulo Chen
These days feel-good sports flicks are usually historical dramas about the first team to overcome racism, poverty, or devastating odds. MAJOR LEAGUE is a refreshingly fictional and light story about a very real team: the Cleveland Indians.
The premise is simple: the greedy widow of the Indians' owner decides she'd rather relocate the team to Miami, so she assembles an awful Cleveland roster to ensure game attendance is at an all-time low. The team starters are a bunch of has-beens and never-will-bes like over-the-hill catcher Jake Taylor (Tom Berenger), "wild thing" rookie pitcher Rick Vaughn (Charlie Sheen) and cocky base-stealer Willy Mays Hayes (Wesley Snipes), none of whom knows they've been set up to lose.
After an unexpected winning streak, the team discovers the owner's plans and vows to win at all costs -- even praying to the Afro-Cuban player's (Dennis Haysbert, way before he went presidential on 24) voodoo god Jobu, who accepts fine rum and cigar offerings.
Sheen, who despite his off-screen persona is actually a fine actor, shines as the rockin' closer with a lot of attitude. As his foil, Corbin Bernsen (of L.A. Law fame) is perfectly vain as the all-business pro athlete who's cashing in off the field but is checked out on the field. It's an impressive '80s cast. Look closely, and you'll even find an early cameo by Scrubs janitor Neil Flynn as a hardcore baseball fan.
Even 18 years after its original release, the movie is still a fun, lightweight sports flick. When Berenger leads the team to a predictable championship victory, it's impossible not to grin.
Families who enjoy baseball films will also like The Bad News Bears, Field of Dreams, and The Sandlot.
Rate It!
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Sexual ContentThere's asexual partial nudity in the team locker room (bare butts are visible). The female team owner slaps a couple of players' butts. Two sets of characters have off-screen sex (the viewer sees just foreplay and afterglow). A player is caught cheating on his wife in a televised news segment. |
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ViolenceDorn and Vaughn push and shove each other, and in another scene Dorn punches Vaughn in the face. A couple of players give each other menacing looks. |
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LanguageThis is major-league cursing: More than two dozen "F"-words and "s--t," along with "ass," "Goddamn," "dick," and one "motherf--ker." There's even cursing in Spanish, courtesy of Cerrano. |
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Social BehaviorEven when faced with nearly impossible odds and no confidence from their owner, the ragtag team pulls together to give the season their best shot. |
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CommercialismMajor League Baseball: Cleveland Indians, New York Yankees |
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Drug/Alcohol/TobaccoThe guys drink cocktails and beer. Cerrano (and Jobu) smokes cigars and drinks rum. |
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