Hollywood has produced some classic baseball movies over the years including The Natural, Moneyball, Bull Durham and Field Of Dreams, but perhaps none more fun than Major League. The foundation of this film is pure and predictable; take the hopeless losers win the title story and chuck in a touch of rom-com and you've got your basic underdogs triumph against adversity plot.
But the stupendously good cast led by Tom Berenger (he may not have made it big as a leading man but he's better than Worthington, Wahlberg and Cooper combined), a youthful Charlie Sheen (in his first role showing off his genius for comedy if you ignore the Ferris Bueller cameo) and a razor sharp Wesley Snipes (why didn't he do more comedy...or more of anything good for that matter). The ensemble are lovable, the individual gags around the team's shortcomings in character and ability frequently hilarious, Margaret Whitton's pantomime villian hissable, an adorable leading lady in Rene Russo (so gorgeous it's no wonder she was a Hollywood favorite for over a decade) and a story that has you cheering come the end. Director David S Ward injects a warm tone and handles things with a steady, well-timed comedic hand.
Major League remains memorable for its use of power rock version of The Trogg's Wild Thing in various different forms throughout the movie culminating in the anthemic scene below. Still a very funny film and a great example of the underdog sports movie done well.
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