Angels in the Outfield (1994)

My Review

“Angels in the Outfield” is a sports-comedy-drama film about a ten-year-old foster child who prays for a family. When his estranged father hears this, he sarcastically says they can be a family when the perpetual losers California Angels baseball team win the pennant. The boy then starts praying for the Angels to win, and some real angels start showing up and helps the players to do better. When the manager of the team hears this, he brings the boy and his friend to every game, and with the media getting wind of the situation, the comedy proceeds from there.

Director William Dear (“Harry and the Hendersons” 1987) puts together a poignant film which strikes chords of faith and family values from an excellent screenplay by Holly Goldberg Sloan. It is based on the 1951 film “Angels in the Outfield” starring Paul Douglas and Janet Leigh, dealing with the down-and-out Pittsburgh Pirates. It is likely that the California Angels baseball team was selected as the subject of this film due to the fact that The Walt Disney Company, who produced the movie, was a minority owner of the Angels at the time.

The stars include Joseph Gordon-Levitt in the lead role of foster child Roger, Danny Glover as the manager, Brenda Fricker as the foster mum, Tony Danza as ailing pitcher Mel, Christopher Lloyd as the head angel, Ben Johnson as the Angels owner, Dermot Mulroney as Roger’s father, Jay O. Sanders and Tim Conlon as broadcasters, Taylor Negron as the team assistant, Milton Davis Jr. as foster child J. P., and Neal McDonough, Adrien Brody, Matthew McConaughey, Stoney Jackson, Israel Juarbe, Robert Clohessy, Mitchell Page, and Carney Lansford as ball players. These are very early film appearances for Gordon-Levitt, McDonough, McConaughey, and Brody. Director Bill Dear played the Blue Jays manager.

The watchable “Angels in the Outfield” was popular at the box office for Walt Disney Pictures, Caravan Pictures, Buena Vista Pictures Distribution, and The Walt Disney Company. It was filmed in the Oakland Coliseum for game scenes and at Anaheim Stadium for exterior shots, as the story is set in Anaheim. It was followed by two made-for-television sequels – “Angels in the Endzone” (1997) and “Angels in the Infield” (2000).