ReaderKenka Let's be realistic.
Steineded How sad is this?
Sharkflei Your blood may run cold, but you now find yourself pinioned to the story.
Raymond Sierra The film may be flawed, but its message is not.
donaldricco Just re-watched this, for like the hundredth time, with my little girl! So much fun to hear her laughing! I absolutely LOVE this film - until they try to get the ball back from the Beast. Then... well, it's silly. But that first hour alone earns 5 stars with it's endearing, and enduring, movie magic! The fireworks with Ray Charles and the crushed baseball? AWESOME!!!
popcorninhell By the time I got around to watching The Sandlot, I was already in high school. I don't know why that is exactly – It's considered an early nineties touchstone in much the way Pogs, Game Boys and The Mighty Ducks (1992) were back in the day. By the time it was widely available on VHS, the movie was laser-focused on kids my age. To whit snippet of dialogue like "you're killing me Smalls," had actually managed to sneak into my vocabulary without me even realizing it. So by the time I sat down to watch this ode to summer and eye-fluttering nostalgia, I was already at a point in my life where I was knee-jerkingly against everything that everyone else liked.That is the legacy of The Sandlot that in my mind before setting out for a redemption re-watch. A clichéd, cloying, and unrelentingly sweet kid's movie that had neither the sense of wonder that E.T. (1982) had nor the propensity to revel in its silliness the way something like The Little Giants (1994) did. To top it off it was about baseball, a sport I had failed miserably in, two years in a row. I even had the distinction of being the only kid on my team to never hit the ball when up to bat. Hearing the collective sighs of parents in the stands and seeing the encroaching outfielders strolling closer as I came to the plate was excruciating.Now that I am older, The Sandlot is more of a silly, good-natured summer movie than a vessel for childhood frustration. It's cute and quotable, liable to give anyone who watches it the same warm feeling when watching A Christmas Story (1983). It's a kid's film from the perspective of kids. Not exactly a rarity but by taking place in 1962, a lack of grounding could've turned out as un-engaging as Newsies (1992).This doesn't stop the film from loading up the plot with a gaggle of stock characters. There's the leader (Vitar), the fat kid (Renna), the ham (Leopardi), the nerd (Gelt) et al. with Tom Guiry rounding out the cast as our fish-out-of-water and de facto narrator. The fact that Sandlot didn't see fit to add "the girl" is unfortunate but then Renna's "you throw like a girl," line wouldn't have been as funny and Leopardi's graft at the pool would have actually had consequence.What strikes me the most about The Sandlot the third time around (I think) is it's not really about baseball. In fact, other than a late junkyard dog inspired action boost, the movie basically sits there like a summer heat wave. It's not really about anything other than chasing that feeling of no school, no work. None of the characters really change all that much, and inclusion of James Earl Jones feels like a lesson falling on deaf ears at best. At worst, it's a non-sequitur. If we're honest the only thing holding this thing together are a couple of loosely chronological hijinks.But the hijinks are arguably the best part of the movie and coincidentally what everyone re so fondly. The whirlybird scene, the rival team standoff, the extended chase through the neighborhood, it's all so effective in a broad, shameless kind of way. It's during these moments our patience is rewarded with light-hearted, un-cynical entertainment in what otherwise feels like a Skippy's Peanut Butter commercial.Nevertheless, The Sandlot appeal remains hidden under oh so many layers of quaintness. Even a casual observer will notice the camera-work is sloppy, the acting amateurish and the story lacks urgency. If you grew up with it, watching it a second time isn't likely to change your mind on its merits. Since I technically didn't grow up with it, I can't really see anything other than nostalgia propping it up.
Jonathan C The Sandlot is a clever movie about a boy, Scottie, who moves to a new neighborhood and meets a bunch of new friends on a baseball sandlot. He is really bad at baseball, but Benny, the neighborhood baseball god, takes him under his wing and incorporates him into the group. The team has a bunch of misadventures at a swimming pool and city park, and then things get dicey when Scottie accidentally hits his stepfather's ball, signed by Babe Ruth, into a yard with "the beast" a really large dog. There is a bunch of hilarious slapstick as they try to get the ball back.The Sandlot is interesting because it seems to reside in a bunch of genres at once. On the one hand, it is a baseball movie for sure, although something of a satire of movies like Bull Durham and Field of Dreams. You almost get the sense that they have translated the minor league antics of Bull Durham into a kids' movie and the result is really funny. A scene involving chewing tobacco and a park ride is especially effective.On the other hand, The Sandlot is also plainly a kids movie, in the sense that it is a real attempt to see the world from a kid's point of view. In that sense, it owes its conception to movies like To Kill a Mockingbird, which try to see the world through a child's eye so as to illuminate it to grownups.Also, the movie is clearly a nostalgia movie, attempting to recreate in some measure the world of the early 1960s. It is a loving and effective tribute, taking us back to a suburban world of that era which contained a real capacity for joy.Finally, the movie is a physical comedy, and a good one. There are bunch of really funny slapstick scenes in this, mostly inspired by the fantasy aspect of the movie. The world is something of a Calvin and Hobbes sort of world of imagination, and in that world there are plenty of opportunities to laugh at what might be imagined.Thus, the Sandlot is a multi-faceted winner, a movie that appears shallow on the surface but actually works on a bunch of levels. Perhaps most importantly, it is hilarious and fun, and this is perhaps the best reason to see the movie.
mwcrunner Great comedy about baseball here. This film takes place in 1962 and Scott Smalls becomes part of a neighborhood team and is able to fit in with them. They also get in the biggest pickle of their lives. Scott has the gang play with a ball from his step dad that was signed by the Great Bambino also known as Babe Ruth. The greatest baseball player that ever lived. As they play with it, it goes into an old mans backyard who owned a mean vicious dog that was a beast of a dog. Of course I think the dog in this movie was a bassit hound. You also know that dogs can't really grow up to be the size of a monster, also they can't grow up to be as big as Clifford. lol. As the gang tries many ways of getting the ball back the beast always gets the best of them. Then Rodriguez had a dream about meeting Babe Ruth and Babe Ruth gives him great advice and that he must get the ball out of that backyard. The next morning Rodriguez goes over the fence and grabs the ball and the beast starts chasing him. When he gets chased back to the sandlot and over the fence again the fence falls onto the beast and is hurt. The kids decide to help the hurt dog and then the dog turns out to be nice. Then the kids knock on Mr. Mertle's door who of course was blind and a retired player of the Negro League. He is played by the great James Earl Jones another fine roll in his career. Scott tells him about the ball and that he was in deep trouble. Then Mr. Mertle gives him another autograph baseball signed by Babe Ruth and all the other 1927 Yankees. When Scott tells his step dad about the ball and shows him the one Mr. Mertle gave him, his step dad only grounds him for a week instead of the rest of his life. Since then he and his step dad became very close. Also the beast also known as Hercules becomes the Sandlot kids mascot and they played ball until they grew up and went on to have different careers. Scott Smalls becomes a baseball announcer and his friend Rodriguez becomes a baseball player for the Yankees. Great film here and still a classic.
