The Slugger's Wife (1985)

Excellent but underrated film

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Neil Simon has written some good things over the years, but with this original screenplay, he really missed the mark. The biggest mistake he makes is with the main character played by Michael O'Keefe, writing him to be a real jerk for most of the movie. Though the character eventually matures, it comes too late to save the movie. Also, Simon seems unsure as to what tone this story should follow. It's alternately a romance, then a comedy, then a serious drama. While I suppose it's possible all those elements could work together, director Hal Ashby seems unable to balance them in a way that feels natural or believable. Making matters worse is that Ashby peppers the movie from start to finish with fourth rate covers of classic rock songs. (Incredibly, a soundtrack album for this movie was released!) Is there anything in the movie that works? Well, the ending of the movie isn't bad - it's kind of unexpected while at the same time feeling realistic. Had the rest of the movie been like that, we might have had a winner here. But the movie as a whole will make you want to be your own slugger - namely by punching out the lights of the filmmakers.

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.

I wasn't part of the production company but hired from the outside for a few scenes. Afterward, I waited for the movie to hit the theaters. When it came out at a local theater on a Tuesday, I decided to wait until the weekend to see it. It didn't last that long. By the weekend, it was gone. Videotapes were still relatively new at that time, and tape rentals were even newer. I had to wait until the early 1990's for it to be released on VHS to see it. And THEN I understood why it never made it to the weekend at the theater, or why it took so long to be released on tape. For what it's worth, MY scenes and even my name never made the final cut. So the ONLY reason I'd even want a copy is that it was my sole (and failed) entry into the movie business.

Tuned into this on cable one night. I figured that since Rebecca De Mornay is in it, it shouldn't be half bad, since she's done well in other features. Well, not here. Her character of an aspiring singer isn't at all convincing, starting with her inability to carry a tune. She should have been grateful to her whiny husband for rescuing her from a sorry music career. If you're into baseball, I suppose the game scenes might be interesting. However, the marital relationship, which should be the foundation of the plot, failed to come across as believable. These two were one-dimensional and lacked chemistry. Without that, I stopped caring what happened to them.