Michael_Elliott
Angels in the Outfield (1994) ** (out of 4)Roger (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is a big fan of the Los Angeles Angels as its his one getaway from his troubled home life. His mother recently passed away and his dad doesn't want anything to do with him but promises to if the Angels win the World Series. This is when Roger prays for a championship and some angels decide to deliver.ANGELS IN THE OUTFIELD is a remake of the 1951 film and it basically follows the same sort of storyline as that one. This film was made at a time when there were quite a few baseball movies out there aimed at children including LITTLE BIG LEAGUE, ROOKIE OF THE YEAR and MAJOR LEAGUE II. I'd argue that this one here is the weakest of the bunch but if you don't take it too serious then you might get some mild entertainment out of it.I think the film will mainly appeal to young kids. I say that because a lot of the attempted comedy is really of the slapstick kind and I personally didn't find it very funny. The movie certainly has its heart in the right place and it was obviously just trying to appeal to children with its message of prayers helping and coming true.The film does benefit from a great cast that includes a fine performance from Gordon-Levitt. You've also got the likes of Danny Glover as the coach, Brenda Fricker, Tony Danza, Christopher Lloyd as a boss angel and there's even Matthew McConaughey. The cast certainly makes it more watchable for older people but ANGELS IN THE OUTFIELD is just a bit too weak to really recommend.
byson5186
This is one of the movies I watched as a kid. Interestingly, during this era the film was made there were a lot of movies which came out with this kind of theme, of a losing team where someone or something helps that team become a winning team. The most memorable film of that category is probably "Space Jam" which came out a couple of years later, and I heard it is still the highest grossing basketball movie.This movie is probably the first movie we are familiar with that the famous actor Joseph Gordon Levitt. He has come a long way since then, and has become like every girls dream. I wonder what happened to the other kid, J.P.? I haven't heard any clear answers. Joseph Gordon Levitt would much later star in a movie with Tony Danza, they even talked a little about this movie in their interviews, but I wish he'd talk more about what it was like working in this movie.I recently saw this movie on my parents old VHS tape, and while I remember it pretty well since I was a kid, it mostly just seemed like a cheesy movie and a waste of time. Some of the movie seems serious, I mean it's a movie that involves foster kids, and some of the scenes that don't involve baseball or angels are a little serious. But, the movie seems incredibly cheesy and too focused on an individual character. I mean the movie involves a losing baseball team with a manager George Knox played by Danny Glover who can't take always being on a losing team. Then, we have a couple of boys Roger and J.P. who are in a foster home. As we'd see from the trailer, Roger asks his Dad, "When Are We Going To Be A Family Again." The father replies, "The Way I See It, I'd Say When The Angels Win The Pennant." Now looking at that movie from an adult perspective, it sounds like a sarcastic remark, like why would you believe it? But, Roger takes his fathers words literally and prays for the California Angels in a somewhat funny prayer. The Angels start to help out the California Angels, and that is the main plot of the movie, which is obviously the title.Let me tell you, while this movie might have wanted to leave a good message of believing in God and miracles, it doesn't do it in a religious way. I mean the angels are lead by Al the boss angel played by Christopher Lloyd. We only see the angels at the ball park, except in one scene. Every scene the angels are in, are cheesy scenes and they do not seem like they are holy, they mostly seem there for comic relief for a film with a somewhat serious tone in some scenes. I mean, it's interesting to think that angels would help a losing team become a winning team with the most bizarre methods. But, the angels weren't in the more serious scenes where what Roger really wanted was his father back. Also, how a prayer would be answered about a losing baseball team becoming a winning baseball team, but not about all the other problems in the world, almost making Roger's problems seem like they're at the center of the universe.I give this movie credit, it still is somewhat inspirational. But, I wouldn't say the movie is too exciting or too fast paced. I'd say it is mostly just a cheesy movie about angels helping a baseball team win so a boy could get his father back, and again the angels weren't holy.This movie's message, isn't as inspirational as a more recent movie about the surfer, Bethany Hamilton, "Soul Surfer." That movie was truly inspirational, and not in a cheesy way. It also isn't as inspirational as a recent religious movie about a boy who sees heaven, "Heaven Is For Real." So, I'm sure everybody who sees this "Angels In The Outfield," could agree that the angels didn't seem holy, and were mostly cheesy. I don't really remember laughing at this movie except in a couple of scenes.What else I want to say, is I've recently seen another kids movie of a losing team becoming a winning team called "Underdog Kids." While that movie was pretty cheesy, I actually enjoyed it somewhat, because I felt like that movie left some really good messages, and probably better messages than "Angels In The Outfield" when "Underdog Kids" doesn't talk about angels. So, I'd recommend that movie.Also, the funniest book I've read IN MY ENTIRE LIFE is a book around the same age as "Angels In The Outfield" called "The Toilet Paper Tigers," a 1993 book by Gordon Korman. The book is about a low budget little league team of misfits, and a coach who doesn't know how to coach baseball. But, the coach's niece the same age as the boys finds ways to annoy the boys into making them become a winning team. Some of the boys secretly like her. That book would seem to make a better movie than "Angels In The Outfield," of course if it had the right director. It seems like a better story and more exciting. I'd definitely recommend that book."Angels In The Outfield," entertains me somewhat, but I wouldn't recommend it. I feel like this movie has too much emphasis on angels helping a losing team in cheesy ways, and a boy in a foster home in mostly ways that aren't inspiring, losing the movie's entertaining factor. Watch another Disney movie the same age as this instead, "Blank Check." I feel like that one is way more entertaining. I give Angels In The Outfield A 6 for some entertainment, and a movie I enjoyed when I was a kid.
