Angels in the Outfield (1994 film)

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Angels in the Outfield

Angels in the Outfield poster
Directed by William Dear
Produced by Richard Birnbaum
Joe Roth
Irby Smith
Written by Dorothy Kingsley
George Wells (1951/1994 screenplay)
Richard Conlin (1951 story)
Holly Goldberg Sloan
Starring Danny Glover
Brenda Fricker
Tony Danza
Christopher Lloyd
Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Neal McDonough
Music by Randy Edelman
Cinematography Matthew F. Leonetti
Editing by Bruce Green
Distributed by Walt Disney Pictures
Release date(s) July 15, 1994
Running time 102 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Followed by Angels in the Endzone
IMDb profile

Angels in the Outfield (known simply as Angels in some countries) is a 1994 Disney film remake of the 1951 film of the same name starring Danny Glover, Tony Danza and Christopher Lloyd. The movie also featured appearances from future stars Adrien Brody and Matthew McConaughey.

Contents

[edit] Plot

Young foster children Roger (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and his friend J.P. (Milton Davis, Jr.) love to sneak into baseball games of the hopelessly dreadful California Angels.

Still in limited contact with his father, Roger asks when they will be a family again. His father replies sarcastically, "I'd say when the Angels win the pennant." Taking his father's words literally, Roger prays for God to help the Angels win.

The next time he and J.P. go to see a game, he sees a group of angels led by Al (Christopher Lloyd) helping the team. Although Roger can see the angels quite clearly, everyone else can only explain the seemingly impossible acts as freak occurrences.

Roger's unique ability to see which players are receiving help from angels leads the Angel's skeptical manager, George Knox (Danny Glover) to keep Roger around as a good luck charm/consultant. Due to the much needed help, the Angel's start to win games and make a surprising second-half surge to the top of their division. Unfortunately, Roger's father permanently gives up custody of his son. During this court hearing, Roger has to miss a baseball game. J.P. attends by himself, and the Angels lose. Afterwards in the locker room, he sits in a chair and cries to George Knox--apologizing for not being able to see any angels. Broadcaster Ranch Wilder (Jay O. Sanders), who has always hated Knox, approaches J.P. and asks what he means by "angels". J.P. explains how Roger prays for the angels that help the team win, and the next day, an article appears in the newspaper--citing an unnamed "source." The boys realize that Knox is in trouble. Owner Hank Murphy (Ben Johnson) asks him about the story and informs George that he'll hold a press conference in order for George to renounce any involvement with angels, or he will lose his job.

The next day, Knox takes the podium and says he is going to read a statement--presumably denying any interaction with Roger. However, Roger and J.P. enter the room--along with foster mother Maggie Nelson (Brenda Fricker). Knox looks withdrawn and decides against what he was going to say. Instead, he affirms that sometimes in sports, miraculous things happen which can be attributed to many things, including angels. Maggie also states that spirituality is prevalent in many sports, and no one questions it there.

Pitcher Mel Clark (Tony Danza) stands and says that he won't play for anybody but George Knox. He is joined by catcher Triscuit Messer, and soon after, the entire team. Murphy then says that Knox will remain the manager of the ballclub, and it is greeted with loud cheers.

On the championship game none of the Angels show up to help the team. Later on Al explains that championships must be played without help from the Angels and that he was just checking Mel Clark who will be one of them soon (he's been a smoker for years and only has six months left to live). Through out the game Mel Clark has been in, but is getting tired after 156 pitches. Manager Knox goes in, everyone thinks he's going in to take him out, but instead goes in for some motivation. Roger steps onto the field and gives the signal that an angel is present by flapping his arms. J.P. follows and does the same, and the duo is followed in turn by the entire team and then all fans in the stadium, except for Wilder. The Angels ultimately win the final game of the regular season without the help of the angels and clinch the American League pennant over the rival Chicago White Sox. At the same time Murphy fires Ranch, who is deeply angered by this and the Angels winning, and is replaced by his co-announcer Wally, who Ranch never allowed to participate. The movie ends with George adopting both J.P and Roger. At the window, J.P sees Al for the first time and says, "I KNEW it could happen."

[edit] Sequels

The movie spawned two direct-to-video sequels, Angels in the Endzone and Angels in the Infield. However, neither of these two films achieved the same level of success as the original.

[edit] Cast

[edit] Trivia

 Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines.
The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.
  • Although the exterior and sky shots of the stadium were filmed at Angel Stadium of Anaheim (then known as Anaheim Stadium), most of the shots inside the stadium were actually filmed at McAfee Coliseum (then known as Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum). Anaheim Stadium had been damaged in the 1994 Northridge earthquake, making it necessary to make repairs and film scenes elsewhere.
  • This movie's central theme is about baseball, and Joseph-Gordon Levitt is one of the main characters. Coincidentally, in 2001, Levitt stars in a movie called 'Manic', in which his character is sent to a mental hospital for attacking somebody with a baseball bat.
  • The Angels were eventually bought by Disney in 1997, and sold again in 2003.

[edit] See also

[edit] References