On M List of Movie Reviews

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Mr. Baseball (1992)

Rate: 6
Viewed: 8/25

8/25: In some ways, Mr. Baseball feels like the Japanese version of Major League with some Gung Ho thrown in.

Tom Selleck is Jake Taylor, an aging veteran who can't let go of baseball or his womanizing ways yet meets somebody to settle down with and finds a new meaning in the sport. By readjusting his ways, he has to go through the five stages of grief.

In Japan, he makes friends with Max Dubois for Pedro Cerrano, has well-meaning battles with the manager, and helps his new team win a pennant title in front of the naysaying owners. At the same time, cultural differences between Americans and Japanese are touched upon. Everything ends well as expected, but this time, there's no Wild Thing.

Unfortunately, the movie is more bland than not with a lot of undeveloped characters and hardly any humor. No matter what, Tom Selleck is faultless. He gives a strong performance and looks the part of a major league baseball player. In fact, he once had an at-bat in Detroit Tigers uniform during a spring training game on April 3, 1991, striking out. It's an impressive feat because he was 46 years old at the time and actually connected with several balls that went foul.

All in all, Tom Selleck's charm goes a long way for Mr. Baseball to be at least watchable.

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