Long Gone | William Petersen, Virginia Madsen

Long Gone | William Petersen, Virginia Madsen | great baseball movie

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Long Gone

	Long Gone William Petersen, Virginia Madsen Warner Home Video, 1992 average customer review:based on 32 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Kevin Costner might have had a hammerlock on baseball movies in the late 1980s with Bull Durham and Field of Dreams, but this 1987 HBO film with a few mid-level stars was (and still is) very good in its own way. William L. Petersen (Manhunter) is a player-manager for a 1950s minor-league team whose fortunes and hopes turn around during their battle for a championship. As with Bull Durham, this comedy has the feeling of taking place in a world larger than that of baseball, and thus provides useful perspective into why the game is so central in people's lives each spring. Another similarity is the farm-team milieu, a life of abridged hopes and stardom outside the Show--the thematic implication being that most of us have some kind of Show we can only admire from a distance. (Underscoring the point is a nice performance by Virginia Madsen as a small-town beauty queen.) But hope does come in Long Gone, and because of its sharp dialogue and enjoyable acting (by Dermot Mulroney, Larry Riley, Henry Gibson, Katy Boyer, and Teller) this film deserves to be included in anyone's collection of baseball features. --Tom Keogh

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Greatest Line Ever

"When God made woman he made her out of Lace. He didn't have enough so he left a little space. When God made man he made him out of string. He had a little left so made a little thing. Thank You God." DaddyJack, Texas

great baseball movie

Perhaps the best sports movie I've ever seen and certainly the best film about playing in the minor leagues. Some of it is predictable of course but it captures the essence of playing in the bus leagues and the hopelessness that Stud Cantrell felt knowing he had the ability but never quite got a good shot. Having gone through it I can tell you that the difference between guys who get released and guys who make it to the big leagues is often slim indeed. Also some of the funniest one liners ever are delivered in this movie. when Jamie Weeks tries out and asks Stud if he wants to see him hit Stud replies, "what for, I already know you can't hit more than .200". that's classic stuff and is exactly how a minor league manager would say it. No pretense, straight to the point honesty no matter the consequence. this is great filmmaking. Not to be missed.

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A BASEBALL CLASSIC

This movie started as a 1987 HBO original, but popularity on cable quickly forced this film on the open market in VHS. The subsequent feature "Bull Durham" proved to have been closely patterned after "Long Gone."

In fact, it clearly appears as if the producers of "Bull Durham" simply ripped off the concept from HBO, and ran with it as far as they could. For example, the roles of Virginia Madsen (Long Gone) and Susan Sarandon (Bull Durham) are virtually identical.

In any case, Long Gone is about the Tampico Stogies, a fictional 1950s minor league baseball team in the deep south. The big rival -- which Tampico eventually defeats for the league championship -- is from Dothan, Alabama. Player-Manager William Peterson, as "Studs Cantrell," is a riot throughout, particularly as he mentors young Dermot Mulroney, who portrays the rookie second baseman "Joe Don Weeks." Cantrell is trying to position himself for a job in the St. Louis Cardinals organization, but Madsen enters the picture as team groupie "Dixie Lee Boxx."

If you like baseball, you will not be disappointed.

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DVD, why not?

This is William Petersen at his best. A wonderful story, great characters, marvelous acting. The gems in this movie are countless.

I just can't understand with the popularity of CSI, why this hasn't been released in the DVD format. My poor VHS copy is being played to death.

Long gone is simply a romp.

I was fortunate to see this when it first aired in 1987. I knew as soon as it ended that it would become a classic. I agree that it is no doubt one of the best, if not the best, baseball films of all time. It has humor, race relationships, romance, some rather interesting baseball, and great performances by all the cast. Tis a pity that HBO hasn't seen fit to put this on DVD. I would have it in a heartbeat. Go Studs and Dixie.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

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