Angels in the Outfield (1994 film)
| Angels in the Outfield | |
|---|---|
 Angels in the Outfield poster | |
| Directed by | William Dear |
| Written by | Dorothy Kingsley George Wells (1951/1994 screenplay) Richard Conlin (1951 story) Holly Goldberg Sloan |
| Produced by | Richard Birnbaum Joe Roth Irby Smith |
| Starring | Danny Glover Brenda Fricker Tony Danza Christopher Lloyd Joseph Gordon-Levitt Neal McDonough |
| Cinematography | Matthew F. Leonetti |
| Edited by | Bruce Green |
| Music by | Randy Edelman |
| Distributed by | Walt Disney Pictures |
Release dates | July 15, 1994 |
Running time | 102 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
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.
Plot
Young foster children Roger (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and 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 game where the Angels have a chance to clinch their division and make the playoffs. 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 last game of the season, and the Angels' final chance to make the playoffs, none of the angels show up to help. Later on Al explains that championships must be played without help from the Angels and that he was just checking Mel who will be one of them soon (he only has six months left to live). Through out the game Mel 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."
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
- Danny Glover as George Knox
- Brenda Fricker as Maggie Nelson
- Tony Danza as Mel Clark
- Christopher Lloyd as Al the Boss Angel
- Ben Johnson as Hank Murphy
- Jay O. Sanders as Ranch Wilder
- Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Roger Bomman
- Milton Davis Jr. as J.P.
- Taylor Negron as David Montagne
- Tony Longo as Triscuitt Messmer
- Neal McDonough as Whitt Bass
- Stoney Jackson as Ray Mitchell
- Adrien Brody as Danny Hemmerling
- Tim Conlon as Wally
- Albert Garcia as Pablo Garcia
- Matthew McConaughey as Ben Williams
- Dermot Mulroney as Mr. Bomman (Roger's Dad)
- Robert Clohessy as Frank Gates
- Danny Walcoff As Marvin
- O.B. Babbs As Mapel (Angels Player)
- Carney Lansford as Kit Hit or die kesey
- William Dear as Toronto Manager
- Mark Cole As Norton (Angel Player)
Trivia
 | This article contains a list of miscellaneous information. (August 2007) |
- 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 1979. In real life, Keith Hernandez and Willie Stargell shared the award that year.
- Christopher Lloyd and Tony Danza both appeared together in the ABC hit sitcom 'Taxi' before they paired up again in this movie.
- The Angels were eventually bought by Disney in 1997, and sold again in 2003.
- In the movie, the Angels are owned by Hank Murphy, who may have been based on actual former Angels owner Gene Autry.
See also
- Angels in the Outfield, the original 1951 film.
References
Quotes
- George Knox:You Don't Think As The Team, You Don't Play As The Team, You Don't Even LOSE As the Team!
- Maggie Nelson: Miguel, you have to miss the baseball game tomorrow.
- Maggie Nelson: I'm sorry. your social worker called and you have an interview.