Angels in the Outfield (1994 film)

Infobox Film
name=Angels in the Outfield


caption=Angels in the Outfield poster
director=William Dear
producer=Richard Birnbaum
Joe Roth
Irby Smith
writer=Dorothy Kingsley
George Wells (1951/1994 screenplay)
Richard Conlin (1951 story)
Holly Goldberg Sloan
starring=Danny Glover
Brenda Fricker
Tony Danza
Christopher Lloyd
Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Neal McDonough
music=Randy Edelman
cinematography=Matthew F. Leonetti
editing=Bruce Green
distributor=Walt Disney Pictures
released=July 15, 1994
runtime=102 minutes
country=United States
language=English
mpaa_rating=PG
preceded_by=
followed_by="Angels in the Endzone"
imdb_id=0109127

"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

The film starts off as we see two best friends Roger and J.P., who live in a short term foster care facility together, riding their bikes around the home field of the California Angels. When they return home, Roger is surprised to see his father there waiting for him. He tells Roger that there is nothing he can do and that he doubts that they'll be able to be a family again. Roger, however, doesn't fully understand, and asks him when they will be a family again. Sarcastically, his father tells him it will be when the Angels win the pennant, being that the Angels are in last place.

That same day, the manager of the Angels, George Knox, yells at his team in the dugout because of their 15 game losing streak. After another loss, Knox is being interviewed by Ranch Wilder, the Angels' head broadcaster and former player who injured Knox's knee and ended his playing career. Knox and Wilder get into an argument and George punches him in the eye right in front of the camera.

That night, Roger asks God to help the Angels win the pennant so he could be reunited with his father. The next day, Roger and J.P. go to a game at the stadium, instead of watching the games from a tree as they usually do. In the middle of the game, Roger sees two actual angels pick up the Angels' outfielder Ben Williams and help him catch a ball that would've been a home run. Roger asks J.P. if he saw it, but he says no. After that, a man named Al shows up next to Roger and tells him that the people were angels, and that he is the head of the angels. He also tells Roger that he is the only one who can see them, then mysteriously vanishes. In the bottom of the ninth, Mesmer, the Angels' catcher comes up to bat, and an angel comes up and holds the bat with him. Mesmer hits a home run thanks to the angel, and the Angels end their losing streak. After the game, Roger wins a photo with George Knox, and tells him what he saw.

Knox begins to think that Roger is a good luck charm and invites him to come to another game. In the ninth inning of the next game, Roger sees an angel with the team's worst hitter, and tells Knox to put him in. Knox refuses at first, since they had Ray Mitchell, their best hitter, at-bat, but figures that he has nothing to lose, and puts him in. To everyone's surprise, he hits an inside the park home run, thanks to the angel and 19 errors from the Oakland Athletics, and the Angels win again. Knox then decides to give Roger and J.P. season tickets, believing Roger will help them win every single game. The next game, Roger sees an angel with Mel Clark, a has been pitcher who hasn't played in nearly a decade due to his ill-fated cancer. Roger tells Knox to start him, and he realizes that Roger is actually telling the truth about seeing the angels. Knox decides to start him, and he throws a complete game shutout, and the Angels win their third straight game.

As the season progresses, so do the Angels, and they end up in first place with two games left in the season. On their last two games, they play the second place White Sox, meaning the Angels will win the pennant if they beat them at least once. Roger, however, has to be at a hearing during one of the games, so no one is there to tell Knox where the Angels are, and the Angels lose, ending their incredible winning streak, and leaving them with one last chance to win the pennant. At the hearing, Roger's father turns over custody of him, leaving Roger heartbroken and slowly becoming an atheist.

After the game, Ranch sees J.P. crying and hears him saying something about angels. He asks him about it, and J.P. tells him about how Knox uses Roger to tell him where the angels are, and Ranch tells the press about it. Hank Murphy, the owner of the Angels, fires Knox after he hears about it, thinking Knox was crazy. However, Knox convinces him not to, so he tells him to call a press conference to clear it up. At the conference, Knox is about to say that it isn't true, but then he sees Roger and J.P. walk in, and tells the reporters that he can't deny it. Roger and J.P.'s foster caretaker, Maggie, then says that there is nothing funny about any of this, and then Mel Clark stands up and says he will only play for George Knox, and no one else. He is then followed by the rest of the team, so Murphy decides to let Knox keep his job.

That night, the Angels play their final game of the season against the White Sox. Clark starts the game at pitcher and allows two runs in the first inning, but is able to escape a jam. For most of the game, Clark struggles, but the defense helps him. Al then shows up and Roger asks him if they're going to help, but he tells him that they can't help in championships, but he came to check on Mel, who only has six months to live. Later in the game Mitchell hits a two run homer to tie the game. Later, in the bottom of the eighth, a player bunts a run in from third, and the Angels take a 3-2 lead. In the top of the ninth, Knox decides to leave Clark in. He begins to struggle again, and loads the bases with two outs, and the White Sox best hitter coming to the plate. Knox tells Roger that he has to take him out, but Roger says that he needs to believe. Knox goes to the mound, everyone believing Clark is going to be taken out, as there is a full count. Roger gives Knox the signal that there is an Angel there, and then the entire stadium, except for Wilder, begins waving their arms, and Knox walks off the mound, leaving Clark in the game. The next pitch is hit next to Clark, who dives and barely makes the catch to win the game. The entire team runs out of the dugout to celebrate their victory, and Knox tells Clark that there wasn't really an angel there, and Murphy fires Wilder.

Later that night, Knox tells Roger and J.P. that he has decided to adopt them. While they are hugging, Al makes himself visible to J.P., who has always wanted to see an angel, and J.P. says "I knew it could happen."

equels

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)

See also

*"Angels in the Outfield", the original 1951 film.

References