Movie Monday: The Sandlot

A new feature? Cool!

Blake was a Film Minor in college. His love of film was started by his parents and exposure to the many types of film helped fuel his love of the medium. In an attempt to do his part in an internet packed with paid reviews and movie review bombing, Blake will drop a movie review every other Monday with an earnest take to inform the masses if they should watch something.

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In my effort to create more content to satiate the ageless, cruel, fickle hunger that is the internet, I’m going to add movie reviews here. This is also a clever excuse to watch more movies and eventually make them a business expense. Be sure to keep an eye out as I review movies from all across the era of film. First up is a 90’s classic; The Sandlot.

Synopsis

The Sandlot follows Scotty Smalls (Tom Guiry) a nerdy boy who has moved to a California suburb at the start of summer. After some difficulties he falls in with a group of boys who play baseball in the titular sandlot. Key players include Benny Rodriguez, (Mike Vitar), Hamilton “Ham” Porter (Patrick Renna), and an appearance from James Earl Jones as Mr. Mertle.

What it Has

A classic coming of age story for boys of any age. It’s a period piece so it doesn’t worry about aging poorly. The film is set in the early 60’s when it aired in 1993. There are classic lines you’ve doubtless heard in everyday conversation or as a meme floating around the internet, the most famous one being “You’re killing me, Smalls!”.

90’s kids saw this actor in many sports movies.

The score is wonderfully composed, fitting the schemes and adventures the boys get in and out of. The only hiccup I noted on this rewatch is during a big chase scene towards the end the song “Wipeout” by The Surfaris ends before the chase does. The score does shift to something the composer wrote for the end of the chase and it still works, but I would like to see a version where Wipeout goes until the end of the chase.

What it Doesn’t Have

There’s almost no women characters. Karen Allen plays Scotty’s mother, credited as “Mom”, is one of two women with any personality in the film. The other has a name but no lines, is Wendy Peffercorn, portrayed by Marley Shelton. In Wendy’s case the lack of lines could be a move to heighten the mythos of The Pool Lifeguard one of the boys has an infatuation with. That doesn’t excuse Scotty’s mother not having a name.

The story is framed as a flashback for Scotty as an adult, so perhaps this grown man wouldn’t pay much attention to the women in that fateful summer while he was bonding with a group of friends. Still a great coming of age film, unfortunately not much for the women actors unless you focus on the background actors.

Who Will Like It

If you’re looking for a sports movie in the vein of “Remember the Titans” or “Angels in the Outfield” then stick with those. This is firmly a coming of age movie with baseball as the connecting tissue for the main characters. The love of baseball is evident, especially with Scotty’s Step dad, Benny, and Mr. Mertle. But the movie is about these boys bonding over a special summer of adventure and core life events.

Watch it? Skip it?

I say watch it. Get some friends together, have some cold drinks, and enjoy a sweet story of friendship. It’s a fun group movie even if you’ve never seen it before. Maybe catch it streaming or find a DVD and get a group watch before the summer ends!