THE SANDLOT
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 1997 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****): ***
The 1993 film THE SANDLOT is a wondrous, true-to-life comedy about a group of boys about 10 years old. During the summer of 1962, the boys play sandlot baseball, dream of older girls, and live in absolute fear of "The Beast." Told with heavy narration, the film possesses a realistic nostalgia blended with the magic of youthful dreams and tribulations.
The movie's director is David Mickey Evans, who wrote the script with Robert Gunter, and together they have created a show that has the essence of truth as if in a biography but with the liberties of a coming of age comedy.
The narrator, Scotty Smalls (played by Tom Guiry as the fifth grader and by Arliss Howard as the narrator and the grownup), tells of his life when, two weeks from finishing the fifth grade, his family moves to a new town. He meets eight boys in a sandlot playing the most amazing game of baseball he has ever seen. The game never ends, they don't keep score and there are no sides. They play for the pure exhilaration of the sport, which they all worship.
His new acquaintances live and breathe baseball. History and their lives are told in relation to famous baseball events. When Smalls doesn't know who "The Great Bambino" or "The Sultan of Swat," is, his new friends are flabbergasted.
The adults in the picture have quite brief, but important roles. Karen Allen is Smalls's Mom and Denis Leary plays Bill, his all too busy stepdad. Bill keeps promising to practice catch with him, but has trouble getting around to it. When he does, Bill's advice of "keep your eye on the ball" proves dangerous. Smalls forgets to put his glove in front of it, producing a steak-sized black eye. (Perhaps the reason I like the story so much is that Smalls's baseball ability or lack thereof reminds me so much of myself when I was his age. Balls would fly past me, going under my legs or over my head but rarely into my glove. And like him, I lived in a neighborhood with so few kids that everybody got chosen for the games.)
The guys on the sandlot have Smalls pegged as a nerd from the moment they see him. The best athlete, Benjamin "Benny" Franklin Rodriguez (Mike Vitar), taunts him with "You get straight As." Smalls corrects him in short order. "I got a B once," he shoots back. "Actually it was an A-, but it should have been a B."
The insults in the movie are true to form for fifth graders without trying to shock the audience. When a bunch of kids so rich that they can afford uniforms show up on their shiny new bikes, the insults fly fast and furiously. Typical is that from Phillips (Wil Horneff), the leader of the spoiled brats, who tries to put down Hamilton "Ham" Porter (Patrick Renna), the chubbiest member of the sandlot crew. "You bob for apples in the toilet," mocks Phillips. "And that's the way you like it." Wow, is that an insult or what?
Chester Kaczenski's sets are so perfect as to be totally unrealistic but great for nostalgia. The cars are all brand new as are the houses. The wide lawns are manicured to perfection, and there is not a scratch on anything except for the sandlot area which is in a genteel state of disrepair.
Other than the baseball, which is the thread that holds the story together, the movie has two major focal points: girls and "The Beast."
Perhaps it is different now, but then girls were something that fifth grade boys ogled and dreamed about, but rarely had the courage to do more than flirt with. And they dreamed not of ones their age, but those high school girls with fully developed figures. So it is with the sandlot boys.
In my son's and my favorite scene from the picture, nerdy and bespectacled Michael "Squints" Palledorous (Chauncey Leopardi) creates the scheme of a lifetime to get the knockdown gorgeous Wendy Peppercorn (Marley Shelton), the local lifeguard, to kiss him. It causes all of the sandlot boys to be banned forever from the swimming pool, but some punishments are worth it.
The show's great ensemble cast of unknowns is at its best in the finale. Throughout the picture the large dog, known only as "The Beast," devours any baseball hit over the sandlot into its yard. Seen only in glimpses until the end, its roar and reputation are awesome. Besides having supposedly eaten the one boy who was ever brave enough to venture into the yard, the dog is owned by a Mr. Mertle (James Earl Jones), who is known as the meanest man in town.
The well paced and compelling ending shows how inventive grade-schoolers can be at solving tough problems. And how courage is sometimes essential. I thought I had the conclusion guessed, but I was surprised. The film finishes with a delightful epilogue where we learn how all of our fictional characters turn out when they grow up. Since you grow to love these kids, you'll certainly want to know what happens to them in later life.
THE SANDLOT runs a breezy 1:41. It is rated PG for some 1962 style fifth grade profanity and for the scary scenes of "The Beast." My son Jeffrey, age 8, had mixed feeling about the movie. Being a little too young and therefore taking it too seriously, he was scared by The Beast. Overall, he found the show was "kind of boring, kind of exciting, and kind of scary." Still I think kids around 9 and up will love the picture. Even Jeffrey wanted to go back and see his favorite parts again -- the swimming pool scene and the long ending. I recommend the film to you and give it ***. I came close to awarding it even more.
**** = A must see film. *** = Excellent show. Look for it. ** = Average movie. Kind of enjoyable. * = Poor show. Don't waste your money. 0 = Totally and painfully unbearable picture.
REVIEW WRITTEN ON: June 30, 1997
Opinions expressed are mine and not meant to reflect my employer's.
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