SYNOPSICS
The Slugger's Wife (1985) is a English movie. Hal Ashby has directed this movie. Michael O'Keefe,Rebecca De Mornay,Martin Ritt,Randy Quaid are the starring of this movie. It was released in 1985. The Slugger's Wife (1985) is considered one of the best Comedy,Music,Romance,Sport movie in India and around the world.
Darryl Palmer is a right fielder for the Atlanta Braves. He is a middling batter at 0.294 for the season thus far. He falls in love at first sight with Debby Huston when he sees her performing at the Limelight, a local club, she who dreams of pop music stardom, with the next step on that hopeful road being a record contract. Initially, Debby has no interest in Darryl whatsoever, but he eventually wears her down with his true affection for her, they eventually getting married. As he feels he has nothing else of substance to give her, how he shows his love for her is to be the best batter he can be, their first date which was predicated on he hitting two home runs in the next game, something he had never done before. As such, he continues to hit home run after another in providing this gift for Debby, while in return people begin to see Debby as his good luck charm. As Darryl's newfound hitting prowess is in large part the reason for the Braves' success - they marching toward the ...
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The Slugger's Wife (1985) Reviews
Hal Ashby's Worst
On paper it sounds great: Hal Ashby directing, Neil Simon writing, Michael O'Keefe coming off of three critically acclaimed films, and Rebecca DeMornay coming off Risky Business. But in practice, the movie simply isn't watchable. Bad dialogue, bad acting, atrocious musical interludes; and this is just in the first 20 minutes. Randy Quaid and Martin Ritt appear in thankless roles. Even the baseball sequences are pedestrian. There is nothing redeemable in this production even from a cult perspective. Second-Hand Hearts and Lookin' to Get Out were not great but at least they were coherent. If you are a fan of Ashby's 70's work and are interested in his 80's stuff, I suggest you just watch 8 Million Ways to Die and the concert films.
The Movie is a Metaphor
I showed this movie at my theater when it came out and had the chance to watch it many times. While not a perfect, or even a great movie, I think most people disliked it because they did not understand what the movie was. I'm not blaming that on the audiences, but it is still a reality. People tend to watch 'Slugger's Wife' expecting to see either a baseball movie or a love story. Both of those are just elements that Simon used to tell his story. Unlike what many people think, this IS another of Simon's autobiographic stories which uses the baseball as a metaphor for his life. This is about his relationship and marriage with Marsha Mason. The record-breaking number of hits is his own record with writing Broadway hits. His own self-centeredness is what caused the destruction of his marriage to Mason, the brilliant performer who succeeded on her own. I actually enjoy the movie and wish that there had been an actual soundtrack put out for it... I love De Morney's singing and interpretations of the songs she does. Still, if you can see beneath the veneer of a baseball story and see it for the critical evaluation of Simon towards his own self, you might be able to see the brilliance of his story, even if it is imperfectly presented.
Complete wash out
Baseball player meets rockstar - they marry and have difficulty adjusting to each other's different lives. Not only was I very disappointed when I saw this film, but I actually felt robbed of two hours of my life. I get angry when I think about the time I wasted watching this movie. Judging by cast and crew, it should've been a halfway decent movie. Not in the least... ranks as one of the worst I've ever seen. Not romantic, not comedic...not an honest or unique moment in this whole film. Bull Durham is a much better example of romance/baseball movie... Slapshot is also a better sports/comedy movie, with a subplot about the difficulty of being married to a professional player.
Danny Noonan Breaks Maris' Record. No one seems to care.
This film advertises itself as a Baseball movie with a Love Story. The film fails at both attempts. The Love story is boring and pointless as the characters simply go through the cliche'd story of falling in love, and then drifting apart. But the real disaster here is the failure as a Baseball story. Somehow, we are supposed to believe that Michael O'Keefe is a credible Baseball Slugger? O'Keefe will forever be known as Danny Noonan from Caddychack. Unfortunately, this role did little to take that typecast off of him. He's less than 200 pounds, with barely any muscle tone on his body, and he supposed to have been inspired by his love for Rebecca De Mornay to hit 62 Home Runs in a Season. The story starts off with the fact that he's a light-weight singles hitter. If you look at the four men in history who have hit over 60 home runs in a season, (Ruth, Maris, McGwire & Sosa) you will see that these men are rather large and muscular. O'keefe is neither. However, the story gets even more ridiculous as O'Keefe nears the record. On the night before the final game, he is sitting on 61 Home runs, which has tied the record. So, what does he do? He goes out to the local dance club (where he first met De Mornay) with his buddies. On his way to the dance floor, one reporter from Sports Illustrated approaches him and asks him a few questions, than wishes him luck. ONE REPORTER!?!?! He's on the verge of breaking the single season home run record, and he's out in a disco, and there's only one reporter asking him questions??? Even non-baseball fans can appreciate the amount of media coverage and fan reaction when guys like Maris, McGwire and Sosa neared the 60 mark. Those men were constantly hounded by fans and the media every night. If you want a decent movie about baseball, that also details the accurate lifestyle of a player about to break the single season, see Billy Crystal's "61*".
A very bad Baseball movie.
By the 1980's there were few good and even fewer great Baseball movies. Then films like The Natural, Bull Durham, Field of Dreams and Eight men out came along. There was even a good HBO baseball film called "Long Gone." In the middle of these came "The Slugger's wife" and I sure wish it hadn't. This is a terrible movie. Bad story, bad acting and unrealistic baseball scenes. You should watch the other films I mentioned instead.