Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		2.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.0

Eight Men Out Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman December 8, 2015

If you think Tom Brady’s so-called Deflategate scandal got an inordinate amount of newsprint, harken back to the halcyon (?) days of 1919 when newspapers seemingly couldn’t get enough of another brouhaha with a punchy moniker, namely the so-called Black Sox scandal that tainted that year’s World Series and which ended up costing a number of players their careers. Interestingly, Eight Men Out may have cost Orion Pictures its career, as writer-director John Sayles cheekily admits in his commentary included on this Blu-ray, where he states that while Orion filed for bankruptcy shortly after the release of Eight Men Out, the failure may not have been directly attributable to the box office performance of the film, but “we didn’t help.” Only about a year later another film would appear which addressed the Black Sox scandal at least tangentially, but from a decidedly different perspective. That film was Field of Dreams, where a coterie of former White Sox players, including the immortal Shoeless Joe Jackson, help make an Iowa farmer’s most heartfelt fantasy come true. Unfortunately for Sayles and a really eclectic cast, “they” (meaning the public at large) did not come, despite the film having been “built” out of rather sturdy and even compelling blocks. A character study of sorts wrapped up in a rather fascinating historical milieu, Eight Men Out may well appeal even to those who wouldn’t know an earned run average from an unforced error.

Sayles wastes little time introducing the team members on the 1919 Chicago White Sox (though the director points out that this was in the days before baseball uniforms sported numbers, making differentiating the various players a bit difficult for some potential audience members). While the film quickly details the guys’ skill on the field, it’s the bullpen drama that starts to inform the proceedings, as it is ultimately revealed that many on the team are less than pleased with the miserliness of the team’s owner Charles Comiskey (Clifton James).

Two enterprising gamblers get wind of the players’ discontent, which ultimately leads to the plot to throw the 1919 World Series, something at least some of the Sox agree to do in order to fatten their wallets. Eight Men Out manages to detail both the machinations of some of the Sox, as well as the pangs of conscience that other players feel even as they find themselves getting sucked into the conspiracy.

While some of Eight Men Out might ironically be faulted for playing “inside baseball”, trading on elements like which players are selected to perform at various points during the World Series, what really informs the film more potently is the psychological aspect. Some of the characters like Chick Gandil (Michael Rooker) are fairly cut and dried, without much nuance. But other characters, like David Straitharn’s Eddie Cicotte are at least relatively more shaded. Shoeless Joe Jackson (D.B. Sweeney) is portrayed as something of a pawn, a patsy who is never really aware of what’s going on but gets brought down anyway in spite of that fact.

Sayles was obviously (again utilizing a game specific metaphor) swinging for the fences, with a large cast which includes then young but soon to be notables like John Cusack and Charlie Sheen as other players. The supporting cast is filled with great turns by a wealth of recognizable character actors like John Mahoney and Christopher Lloyd, and there are interesting depictions offered courtesy of some unusual casting decisions like noted author Studs Terkel as Hugh Fullerton, one of the enterprising journalists who investigated and ultimately uncovered the fraud perpetrated by the various White Sox conspirators. (Director Sayles is himself on hand as another investigator, the iconic Ring Lardner.)

The film does a great job in depicting the collegial atmosphere that informed the public perception of what baseball was, as evidenced by some young boys who are obviously deeply involved in some serious hero worship, at least until the scandal unfolds. At the same time, Sayles doesn’t shirk from the grittier aspects of the sport. There’s a “good old boy” network playing out “behind the curtain” (so to speak), not necessarily confined to the gambling elements that were so heavily involved. The economics of the sport are addressed from both the inside (i.e., how well the players felt they were being compensated) and the outside (i.e., those who were in fact betting on games), giving a kind of unseemly perspective on this supposedly most American pastime.

Eight Men Out is probably too bloated to ever achieve enough dramatic momentum, but as a character study of group dynamics, it’s really quite compelling in fits and starts. The young cast playing the team does largely commendable work, and Sayles manages to recreate an interesting era in America, one which some folks tend to see through rose colored glasses, but which was obviously as underhanded and duplicitous as anything that currently makes the day’s litany of news cycle scandals.

Eight Men Out Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Eight Men Out is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Olive Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. Culled from the Metro Goldwyn Mayer catalog (courtesy of that aforementioned Orion Pictures), this is fairly typical of MGM high definition offerings with one notable (and problematic) situation. The film's kind of burnished sienna palette is nicely rendered here, albeit with some perhaps very slight fading on display. Clarity and sharpness are generally decent if not overwhelmingly impressive. Grain is natural looking but quite heavy in spots. There are a few anomalies, including the overly processed looking 1925 coda (see screenshot 10). However (and this may be a pretty big however), there appears to be something decidedly weird going on with regard to the anamorphic presentation here. While ostensibly presented in 1.85:1, this looks anamorphically stretched to me, albeit rather subtly at times. I in fact didn't notice anything overly strange when I was actually watching the film, but began to see discrepancies in the width of things like heads when I began to take screenshots (take a look at Turkel's head in screenshot 2 for just one example, though most of the screenshots included here display this "flattened" effect). This is a really odd and (to me, anyway) confounding situation that detracts from an otherwise at least generally pleasing presentation and may be a deal killer for the film's fans.

Eight Men Out Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Eight Men Out's lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track offers decent immersion in some of the game sequences, where things like the roaring approval and/or approbation of the crowds spills into the surround channels. That said, the bulk of the film tends to place most sonic activity decidedly toward the front channels, where dialogue resonates cleanly and clearly and with excellent prioritization. Mason Daring's jaunty score also resides comfortably in the surrounds and provides good support for several key sequences.

Eight Men Out Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Feature Commentary with Director John Sayles


• Retrospective Documentary (1080p; 57:54) is a nicely in depth piece which includes some very good interviews with Sayles.


• Theatrical Trailer (1080p; 2:20)

Eight Men Out Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Eight Men Out is an often quite fascinating history lesson and may well appeal to those who couldn't care less about baseball. The large cast does exemplary work and helps to flesh out a number of "names" who have entered the public lexicon over the years. Unfortunately, though, there is an inexplicable anamorphic squeeze on display here which, while admittedly fairly minor, keeps me from being able to whole heartedly recommend this release. While this is the rare Olive offering with some (good) supplementary material, my advice to the film's fans is to carefully inspect the screenshots accompanying this review to see if the width issues on display rise to a level of discomfort that would prevent a purchase.