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This time you get to be a casting director, instead of a manager.


Baseball in the post-1994 era has had the feel of a movie, not a Frank Capra heartwarmer but perhaps something a little more contemporary by Quentin Tarantino or David Lynch. It's Friday, so today you get to be the casting director for the off-centre re-telling of baseball in this time. So, which actors play Don Fehr, Bud Selig, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Barry Bonds, Hank Aaron, and Frank Robinson? I originally pegged William H. Macy for Selig, but it strikes me that Willem Dafoe might be a better visual match; Macy might be better for the more subtle personality issues, as he has done the car salesman thing before. Bonus points will be awarded for title suggestions.
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Mike D - Friday, August 24 2007 @ 10:04 AM EDT (#173506) #

I've never known Dave Thomas to play unlikeable characters, but he could totally pull off Fehr.

For titles...how about High and Tight?

Mick Doherty - Friday, August 24 2007 @ 10:36 AM EDT (#173510) #

The Capra comparison rings a bell, and every time a bell rings ...

  • It's a Wonderful Game
  • Mr. Selig Goes to Washington
  • It Happened One Summer
  • The Power of the Clear

Huh, I thought this would be easier ... there must be something you could do with Mr. Deeds Goes to Town and/or Arsenic and Old Lace ...

Jordan - Friday, August 24 2007 @ 10:39 AM EDT (#173511) #
If Ving Rhames doesn't play Frank Robinson, something's gone very wrong.
Mike Green - Friday, August 24 2007 @ 10:59 AM EDT (#173512) #
When I mentioned Lynch, I was thinking of Blue Velvet, but The Straight Story offers up some possibilities for titles.

I suppose we need an actor to play Jose Canseco too. Could Benicio del Toro do it?  I think so.

christaylor - Friday, August 24 2007 @ 11:27 AM EDT (#173515) #
This is fun. I think the idea of Macy as Selig is a good one. Defoe isn't enough of a dead ringer for Selig and he's a little to quirky I think to pull off someone as white bread as Selig. Also I'd imagine a movie that centers around the commissioner where much of the inner turmoil of a man attempting to save the game he loves by turning a blind eye to the drug taking that he believes will destroy it (this is fiction after all, as I don't believe for a second that Selig really ever wanted drugs to be an issue, he'd have been happy doing nothing if people just weren't talking about it). Any how: here's my list of the rest:

Fehr - Philip Seymour Hoffman
McGwire - Mark Whalberg
Sammy Sosa - Cuba Gooding Jr.
Barry Bonds - either Wesley Snipes (who'd make a great young Bonds) or Ving Rhames (who could certainly pull of the surly, beefy, Bonds of today)
Hank Aaron - Jamie Foxx (he'd have to play older than he is, but I think he's got the chops given his performance in Ray)
Frank Robinson - Morgan Freeman (because it's Morgan Freeman!)

Also, Bruce Willis could play Cal Ripken Jr. (in the minor sub-plot of the streak as a minor, untainted attempt at reviving baseball post-strike). Victor Conte should be in there somewhere... and Kevin Spacy could do something interesting with the part, I'd wager.
Mike Green - Friday, August 24 2007 @ 11:36 AM EDT (#173517) #
Wahlberg for McGwire?  Very interesting.  I suppose if DeNiro can put on 60 lbs to play LaMotta, Marky Mark could bulk up too.  Boogie Nights indeed. I certainly agree that you've got to find some role for Kevin Spacey in this film; in this shot of Conte, you can perhaps see the resemblance.
jeff mcl - Friday, August 24 2007 @ 11:52 AM EDT (#173521) #
Fehr: Fred Thompson

Selig: Steve Buschemi

McGwire: Brian Bosworth (if he's busy, we go with Jean-Claude Van Damme)

Sosa: Amaury Nolasco ("Sucre" from Prison Break)

Bonds: Will Smith

Hank Aaron: Jamie Foxx

Frank Robinson: Samuel L. Jackson!
 
jeff mcl - Friday, August 24 2007 @ 11:56 AM EDT (#173522) #
My title is, "Next Question!"
Mike Green - Friday, August 24 2007 @ 12:01 PM EDT (#173523) #
Nolasco is an inspired choice for Sosa.  Well done, Jeff.
Parker - Friday, August 24 2007 @ 02:04 PM EDT (#173532) #

I'd like to submit Forrest Whitaker for the part of Sammy Sosa.  I think he could pull it off.

Gooding, Jr. would be perfect if they ever made a Shannon Stewart biopic...

I kinda like Brian Bosworth for McGuire, even though Stone Cold is one of the worst movies I've ever seen.

Parker - Friday, August 24 2007 @ 02:07 PM EDT (#173533) #
Uh, Forest Whitaker that is.  I'm somehow compelled to spell his name with two r's even though I should know better.  Also compelled to obsess over minor typographical errors, apparently.
tstaddon - Friday, August 24 2007 @ 02:22 PM EDT (#173534) #
Whitaker for Sosa is incredible. And the inclusion of Phillip Seymour Hoffman is, too -- only he should be cast as Mark McGwire, not Fehr. Imagine what a departure that would be: Hoffman going from, say, Capote to Mark McGwire!

But, seriously, give him some muscle mass, a tan and a goatee and I think the resemblance would be surprising.
budgell - Friday, August 24 2007 @ 02:25 PM EDT (#173535) #
No actor suggestions but the title's gotta be "Field of Creams".
Parker - Friday, August 24 2007 @ 02:48 PM EDT (#173537) #

Horatio Sanz as Donald Fehr?

paulf - Friday, August 24 2007 @ 03:40 PM EDT (#173538) #
Hank Aaron - James Earl Jones.
Joe - Friday, August 24 2007 @ 05:10 PM EDT (#173541) #
Field of Creams
If it was possible, this comment should be "superfeatured." Inspired.
Alex0888 - Friday, August 24 2007 @ 07:01 PM EDT (#173545) #
Sylvester Stallone for McGwire, Samuel L. Jackson for Bonds (they're both vulgar)

Those are the good ones I thought of (good to me at least)


Alex0888 - Friday, August 24 2007 @ 07:03 PM EDT (#173546) #
Oh wow, that was before I even saw the above post with S. L. Jackson in it
tstaddon - Friday, August 24 2007 @ 07:05 PM EDT (#173548) #
Unless, you're really partial to The Rock, Jose Canseco should definitely play himself. You know he would, too.
Magpie - Saturday, August 25 2007 @ 06:50 AM EDT (#173552) #
I can't help it - I keep seeing Luis Guzman as Sosa.
Mudie - Saturday, August 25 2007 @ 07:49 AM EDT (#173553) #
Don Fehr- Randy Quaid
Bud Selig- William H. Macy
Mark McGwire- David Denman
Sammy Sosa- Blair Underwood
Barry Bonds- Wesley Snipes(Basically played Bonds in "The Fan")
Hank Aaron- Morgan Freeman
Frank Robinson- Bill Cosby
Geoff - Saturday, August 25 2007 @ 12:47 PM EDT (#173556) #
I don't believe Sam Jackson can really play a guy who's a bit of a narcissistic prima donna. Wesley Snipes on the other hand is an old hand at the part. Particularly as a baseball player (The Fan, Major League).

I like the casting of Randy Quaid but Bill Cosby is going to have to dust off his acting chops if he'll come out of retirement to do Frank Robinson.

I believe Wahlberg could do McGwire but I'd suggest Henry Rollins for more entertainment value. It would be good to get a true Irish redhead, however.

Alec Baldwin would be stupendous if he would dye his hair, goatee and brows red.



VBF - Saturday, August 25 2007 @ 01:39 PM EDT (#173557) #
When Hank Aaron gave his speech to Barry Bonds on the jumbotron in San Francisco, that screamed James Earl Jones.

If not, there must be a place made for James Earl Jones. This is a baseball movie, afterall.
Newton - Saturday, August 25 2007 @ 07:20 PM EDT (#173563) #
Not sure if he can act but a short-haired James Hetfield, Metillica's frontman, looks a heck of a lot like Big Mac.
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