Wikipedia

Angels in the Outfield(1994 film)

Angels in the Outfieldis a 1994 Americanfamilysportsfantasycomedy-drama filmdirected byWilliam Dear.It is aremakeof the 1951film of the same name.It starsDanny Glover,Tony DanzaandChristopher Lloyd,and features several future stars, includingJoseph Gordon-Levitt(in the lead),Adrien Brody,Matthew McConaughey,andNeal McDonough.It was followed by twomade for TVsequels,Angels in the EndzoneandAngels in the Infield.It was released less than a month before the1994 MLB Baseball Strike,which forced the league to cancel the playoffs and theWorld Series.

Angels in the Outfield
Theatrical release poster
Directed byWilliam Dear
Screenplay byHolly Goldberg Sloan
Based onAngels in the Outfield
1951 film
byDorothy Kingsley
George Wells
Richard Conlin
Produced byIrby Smith
Joe Roth
Roger Birnbaum
Starring
CinematographyMatthew F. Leonetti
Edited byBruce Green
Music byRandy Edelman
Production
companies
Distributed byBuena Vista Pictures Distribution
Release date
  • July 15, 1994(1994-07-15)
Running time
102 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$31 million[1]
Box office$50.2 million[1]

Plot

Young foster child Roger Bomman and his friend, J.P., love to sneak into baseball games of the strugglingCalifornia Angels.Still in limited contact with his widowed 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, he prays forGodto help the Angels win. In a game against theToronto Blue Jayswhich Roger and J.P. attend, he sees a group ofangelsled by Al helping the team. Although he can see them 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 their skeptical and flamboyant manager George Knox (who hates children) to keep him around as agood luck charmand consultant. Due to the much-needed help, the Angels start to win games and make a surprising second-half surge to the top of theirdivision.

As the Angels advance to the division championship, Roger has to miss the first championship game because of a court hearing only to find out that his father has permanently given up custody of him. As Roger laments his loss, J.P. accidentally reveals to antagonistic sportscaster Ranch Wilder that Roger has the ability to see angels, and that Knox has been winning through the advice Roger gave him. When Roger returns home from his court hearing with his caretaker Maggie Nelson, Knox returns J.P. home from the game, Maggie tells Knox what happened at the court hearing, Knox tells Roger that when he was his age his father barely spent time with him and his brothers because he could never take care of himself and if Roger continues to think other people would let him down, Roger would dislike children when he becomes an adult.

Hoping to permanently end Knox's career in baseball since their days as players, Wilder informs the press of what J.P. said to him and their owner Hank Murphy threatens to relieve George of his management responsibilities. Roger comes clean to Maggie about his special ability, and at a press conference, they and the entire team defend Knox in front of the press. Moved by their faith, Murphy allows him to remain as the Angels' manager.

During the final game of the season against the rivalChicago White Sox,none of the angels show up to help the team. Later on, Al appears to Roger and explains that championships have to be won on their own without the angels interfering. He also says that he is there to check on pitcher Mel Clark, who only has months to live due to his years of heavy smoking and will become an angel himself. Mel struggles in the ninth inning but perseveres after encouragement from Knox, his team, and the fans in attendance. The Angels ultimately win the game on their own and clinch the division title and the pennant, while Murphy fires Wilder for insulting the team on the air. Knox adopts Roger and J.P., as he wants to try to be a father. J.P. sees Al and says, "I knew it could happen". Al flies off and says, "We're always watching".

Cast

Production

In July 1993,Caravan Picturesreached an agreement with director William Dear to helm screenwriter Holly Goldberg Sloan's remake ofMGM’s 1951 baseball pictureAngels in the Outfield.[2]Unlike the original, which focused on thePittsburgh Piratesas the team in heavenly need, the film focuses on theCalifornia Angels,who did not exist when the original was released in 1951; in addition to the name coincidence,The Walt Disney Company,which distributed the film, was a minority owner of the Angels at the time. The film did, however, premiere at the Pirates' home stadium at the time,Three Rivers StadiuminPittsburgh.[3][4]

Reception

The film has a rating of 31% onRotten Tomatoesbased on 29 reviews, with anaverage ratingof 4.5/10. The site's consensus reads: "A queasy mishmash of poignant drama and slapstick fantasy,Angels in the Outfieldstrikes out as worthy family entertainment ".[5]OnMetacritic,the film holds aweighted averagescore of 44 out of 100, based on 23 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[6]Audiences polled byCinemaScoregave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.[7]

Box office

The film opened at #4 at the North American box office, making $8.9 millionUSDin its opening weekend. It went on to gross $50.2 million at the box office domestically.[1]

Year-end lists

Home media

Angels in the Outfieldwas released on VHS in 1995.[9][10]Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment released the film onDVDon April 23, 2002.[11][12]

Streaming

The film was made available for streaming onDisney+on July 15, 2024, to coincide with the film's 30th anniversary.[13][14]

See also

References

  1. ^abc"Angels in the Outfield – PowerGrind".The Wrap.Archived fromthe originalon July 31, 2017.RetrievedJuly 29,2017.
  2. ^"Caravan's 'Angels' on fast track".Variety.RetrievedJuly 21,2021.
  3. ^Vancheri, Barbara (January 24, 2003)."Multi Media: Adrien Brody going darker and deeper".Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.RetrievedAugust 21,2009.
  4. ^"Believing in angels".The Daily Gazette.July 12, 1994.
  5. ^"Angels in the Outfield (1994)".Rotten Tomatoes.RetrievedJuly 25,2024.
  6. ^"Angels in the Outfield (1994) Reviews".Metacritic.Fandom, Inc.RetrievedAugust 30,2023.
  7. ^"Home - Cinemascore".CinemaScore.RetrievedJuly 13,2020.
  8. ^Webster, Dan (January 1, 1995). "In Year of Disappointments, Some Movies Still Delivered".The Spokesman-Review(Spokane ed.). p. 2.
  9. ^"Vid Song Brings Cindy Suit; Return of Winnie The Pooh".Billboard(The International News Weekly of Music, Video, and Home Entertainment ed.). December 2, 1995. p. 74.
  10. ^"Most Popular Movie Videos".The World Almanac and Book of Facts, 1997.World Almanac Books.1996. p. 284.ISBN978-0-88687-801-6.
  11. ^"Angels In The Outfield DVD".Amazon.April 23, 2002.
  12. ^"Angels in the Outfield DVD Review".dvdizzy.com.Archivedfrom the original on May 24, 2024.
  13. ^McPherson, Chris."July Will be a Big Month For Fans of 'Angels in the Outfield'"Collider.com, May 23, 2024
  14. ^Naushad, Abdul Azim."Disney Plus Schedule July 15-21 2024: New TV Shows & Movies Being Added"Comingsoon.net, July 13, 2024
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