Major League

  • Review Date: May 26, 2007
  • R
  • Genre: Comedy
  • 1989
Review

Common Sense Media says

Crowd-pleasing '80s underdog sports comedy.
greenON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
yellowPAUSE: Know your child; some content
may not be right for some kids.
redOFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
not for kidsNOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age.

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Quality
 
Sometimes media can be age appropriate but a real waste of time. Our star rating assesses the media's overall quality.

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Parents say

Not yet rated

Kids say

Not yet rated

What parents need to know

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.

  • Positive messages3
    Even when faced with nearly impossible odds and no confidence from their owner, the ragtag team pulls together to give the season their best shot.
  • Violence3
    Dorn 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.
  • Sex3
    There'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.
  • Language5
    This 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.
  • Consumerism0
    Major League Baseball: Cleveland Indians, New York Yankees
  • Drinking, drugs, & smoking3
    The guys drink cocktails and beer. Cerrano (and Jobu) smokes cigars and drinks rum.
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What's the story?

When the greedy widow of the Cleveland Indians' owner decides she'd rather relocate the team to Miami, she assembles an awful 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) voodoo god Jobu, who accepts fine rum and cigar offerings.

Is it any good?

 

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.

Sheen shines as the rockin' closer with a lot of attitude. As his foil, Corbin Bernsen is perfectly vain as the all-business pro athlete who's cashing in off the field but is checked out on the field. 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.

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What families can talk about

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.

This review was written by Sandie Angulo Chen
Adult
April 9, 2008
AGE
 
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Teen, 17 years old
April 9, 2008
AGE
 
HILLARIOUS!!!!!!!!!!
this is crazy but funny! i loved it and so did my sister i like the KFC bucket part.
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Helped me decide (11) | Had useful details (8) | Read my mind (9)
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Teen, 15 years old
November 30, 2009
AGE
12
 
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Helped me decide (7) | Had useful details (8) | Read my mind (8)
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This review was written by Sandie Angulo Chen
Studio:Paramount Pictures
Director:David S. Ward
Cast:Charlie Sheen, Corbin Bernsen, Tom Berenger
Genre:Comedy
Run time:107 minutes
Theatrical release date:April 7, 1989
DVD release date:April 10, 2007
MPAA rating:R
This review was written by Sandie Angulo Chen
 

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ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids.
OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
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BEST: Really engaging, great learning approach.
GOOD: Pretty engaging, good learning approach.
FAIR: Somewhat engaging, OK learning approach.
NOT FOR LEARNING: Not recommended for learning.
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