Angels in the Outfield (1994 film)

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Angels in the Outfield
Angels in the Outfield poster
Directed byWilliam Dear
Written byDorothy Kingsley
George Wells (1951/1994 screenplay)
Richard Conlin (1951 story)
Holly Goldberg Sloan
Produced byRichard Birnbaum
Joe Roth
Irby Smith
StarringDanny Glover
Brenda Fricker
Tony Danza
Christopher Lloyd
Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Neal McDonough
CinematographyMatthew F. Leonetti
Edited byBruce Green
Music byRandy Edelman
Distributed byWalt Disney Pictures
Release dates
July 15, 1994
Running time
102 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

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

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 24 hours, at which George can "publicly renounce this hogwash." He is informed "if you repeat any of the bologna I've heard here, we are talking the end of your career in baseball."

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 says, "I was gonna read a statement, but instead I'm just gonna shoot from the hip." He explains that, sometimes in sports, a player can get hot and go beyond his physical ability. He says "You can call it faith, you can call it angels, you can call it whatever you want. That's all I have to say."

Wilder stands up and says, "George, does this mean that you really think that a kid sees angels at your games?" Maggie stands up and says that she'd like to say something on behalf of George Knox. When Murphy asks who she is and what her business is here, she says: "My name is Maggie Nelson. I take care of foster kids." She explains that believing in angels is just like believing in God, that they are on the same team. "The footprints of an angel are love, and where there is love, miraculous things CAN happen. I've seen it."

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...including Roger and J.P., even though they are not on the Angels' active roster. Knox says, "Thank you, all of you." 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 Roger and J.P. J.P. saw Al at the window and says "I KNEW it could happen." Al circles around the house and says "We're always watching".

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.

Cast

Quotes

  • J.P.: "You used to be Mel Clark?"
Mel Clark: "Yeah, I used to be."
  • Owner: "Ranch. You're fired."
Ranch Wilder: "You can't fire me! I got a contract! I'm Ranch Wilder!"
Wally: "Easy Ranch, less is more."
  • Mel Clark: "I got nothing left."
George Knox: "Yeah you do, you got one strike left."
  • J.P.: "It could happen."
  • J.P.: "Roger, how come Maggie's house is called a foster home?"
Roger: "I don't know, maybe the first people who let other people's kids live with them were named Foster."
  • Roger: "Holy Cow"
  • Roger: "Amen. A...a woman too."
  • Security Guard: "You better have tickets for that tree!"
Roger: Games Over for Us J.P. We Got To Go
  • Photographer: "It looks like a prison photo."
  • JP and Roger: "Nacho butt!"
  • Fat Guy: "Hemerling for Mitchell?! Go back to Cincinattiiii!"

Trivia

  • 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.
  • The film shows Angels manager George Knox looking at his Most Valuable Player award from 1976. In real life, Joe Morgan won the award that year. Presumably, Knox was playing with Morgan on the Cincinnati Reds, who won the World Series that season.
  • 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.

See also

References

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