Eight Men Out

For Mr. Sayles, whose idealism has never been more affecting or apparent than it is in this story of boyish enthusiasm gone bad in an all too grown-up world, Eight Men Out represents a home run. Read full review

If ever a movie may be said to have perfect pitch, then Eight Men Out is the one. It is a triumph of ensemble playing, so intent on giving each player equal time that in the beginning it is a little difficult to keep them all straight. But this approach pays dividends in the end when we understand and feel for them all, the ringleaders as well as the more innocent victims. [08 Sept 1988, p.D3]

It's a masterpiece of exposition and compression. An allegorical examination of a transitional period in U.S. history. [01 Sept 1988]

As he spins his mesmerizing story of the fixing of the 1919 World Series, John Sayles moves to a new level of dexterity as a writer-director. Read full review

For anyone who appreciates artistic integrity and is interested in genuinely independent films, the prolific and highly personal work of John Sayles is essential viewing. Read full review

Detailed and memorable, with attention given to the many personalities and agendas involved, but while it finds sympathy for the men who feel pushed to cheat for money, it offers just as much sympathy for the fans who love the sport, and can’t figure out why their beloved players would betray them. Read full review

Perhaps the saddest chapter in the annals of professional American sports is recounted in absorbing fashion in Eight Men Out. Read full review

The film is sympathetic to the underpaid players, but doesn’t shirk away from their crime. Cusack is particularly good as the player whose faith in his friends and baseball was destroyed while his life was torn asunder by circumstance. Read full review

Sayles has created a lively and instructive entertainment, a moral tale that is everything The Natural (1984) should have been. Read full review

The ensemble performances are of such a uniformly high caliber that our interest in the story never wavers. Read full review

Given the inevitably knotty plotting, the message is oddly unrevealing, although the film features more than enough intelligently, wittily scripted moments to remain a fascinating insight into a crucial episode in the souring of that old American Dream. Read full review