Mr. Baseball is probably saved from status as a total strikeout thanks to the charm that Tom Selleck emits as the aging baseball player traded to a Japanese team. This one was released several years after Ron Howard's 'Gung Ho,' which explores the differences in American and Japanese work ethic in the story of a Japanese company taking over a Midwestern auto plant.
The theme is the same, but the situation here is obviously a little different. Selleck's character after a less-than-average career game is sent to Japan to play on a team of both Japanese and other exiled American ballplayers. His contempt for his situation and expectations that he will soon enough be playing in the states again does not make for an easy adjustment. He especially grows impatient with the overabundance of rules and work ethic that turn potentially good players into athletes who are reluctant to show off their skills because of fear of disrespecting some superior or symbolic notion. And, Selleck's attempts to ignore this or call attention to it only furthers the rift between he and the stern team manager. Of course, when Selleck unwittingly starts dating the manager's daughter, she plays the go-between who tries to create this understanding among the two and essentially, close this culture gap through a compromise between the stubborn ballplayer and the equally stubborn manager, and soon between the team and the traditions that get in the way of a good game.
There is something here, however, that makes this film a particularly weak one, as far as feeling and believability. Selleck does have his usual sly humor and charm that is probably best compared to his character in the Three Men and a Baby Series. But, it is perhaps for lack of truly funny moments like those in Gung Ho that make this more of a forgettable than memorable baseball film or even as one from the culture clash genre.
The theme is the same, but the situation here is obviously a little different. Selleck's character after a less-than-average career game is sent to Japan to play on a team of both Japanese and other exiled American ballplayers. His contempt for his situation and expectations that he will soon enough be playing in the states again does not make for an easy adjustment. He especially grows impatient with the overabundance of rules and work ethic that turn potentially good players into athletes who are reluctant to show off their skills because of fear of disrespecting some superior or symbolic notion. And, Selleck's attempts to ignore this or call attention to it only furthers the rift between he and the stern team manager. Of course, when Selleck unwittingly starts dating the manager's daughter, she plays the go-between who tries to create this understanding among the two and essentially, close this culture gap through a compromise between the stubborn ballplayer and the equally stubborn manager, and soon between the team and the traditions that get in the way of a good game.
There is something here, however, that makes this film a particularly weak one, as far as feeling and believability. Selleck does have his usual sly humor and charm that is probably best compared to his character in the Three Men and a Baby Series. But, it is perhaps for lack of truly funny moments like those in Gung Ho that make this more of a forgettable than memorable baseball film or even as one from the culture clash genre.