Main Cast: Albert Brooks, Brendan Fraser, Dianne Wiest, Lane Smith, Anne Twomey
Release Year: 1994
Country: US
Run Time: 101 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG13
Plot
After several weeks filming The Scout in the late 1970s, star Peter Falk and director Howard Zieff abandoned the project. Two decades later, writer Andrew Bergman gave his original script to Albert Brooks and Monica Johnson, who polished it as a vehicle for Brooks and director Michael Ritchie. Brooks stars as Al Percolo, a talent scout for the New York Yankees whose latest recruit (Michael Rapaport) has just vomited on the field and fled. Sent to Mexico as punishment by his boss (Lane Smith), Percolo finds phenomenal young pitcher Steve Nebraska (Brendan Fraser). Before he can get back to the Big Apple, however, Percolo gets pink-slipped by the Yankees, so he offers Nebraska as a free agent. After a stellar tryout, Nebraska is signed for millions. Soon after, he starts to exhibit odd behaviors that may be linked to psychological problems. A psychiatrist (Dianne Wiest) hired by the ball club wants Nebraska in daily therapy, so Percolo ends up babysitting a mentally unstable pitcher. Brooks' normally winning mix of laughs with psychological insights didn't add up to box office or critical success, despite cameos from real-life sports figures such as George Steinbrenner and Steve Garvey. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
Review
One of the first scenes in The Scout finds cynical scout Al Percolo (Albert Brooks) trying to convince a family that their son should come play for the New York Yankees instead of going to college. His explanation of how Lou Gehrig became ill is priceless. Albert Brooks nails the mixture of hard and soft sell one can imagine would be used to force young athletes and their parents to sign on the dotted line. Brendan Fraser is fine as the enthusiastic, emotionally disturbed pitcher; he has the build of a major league hurler. Although the film starts strong, The Scout finds nowhere interesting to go. The set-up could have made for a remarkably dark comedy, but the film backpedals on its subject, playing Nebraska's mental problems for warm-hearted bittersweet laughs instead of attempting to deal with them realistically. When Al changes from a cynic to a man who sacrifices himself for Nebraska, Brooks himself doesn't look like he believes his character. This film fails to soften Brooks' persona for public consumption; it simply neuters his acerbic sensibilities. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
Michael Rapaport - Tommy Lacy; Tony Bennett - Himself; John Capodice - Caruso; Josh Clark - Reporter; Luis Cortes - Mexican Desk Clerk; Steve Eastin - Clubhouse Manager; Roy Firestone - Himself; Garfield - Stan; Steve Garvey - Himself; Keith Hernandez - Himself; John LaMotta - Elevator Guard; Jordan Lage - Reporter; Larry Loonin - Radar Gun Man; Tim McCarver - Himself; Harsh Nayyar - Cab Driver; Gabriel Pingarron - Mexican Umpire; Jack Rader - Mr. Lacy; Marcia Rodd - Mrs. Lacy; Ozzie Smith - Himself; Charlie Stavola - Doorman; Lee Weaver - Ben; Chuck Waters - Photographer; Steven M. Porter - Reporter; Frank Slaten - College Umpire; John B. Sterling - Himself; Barry "Shabaka" Henley - McDermott; George Steinbrenner - Himself; Brett Rickaby - George's Assistant; Bruce Wright - Reporter
Credit
Michael Okowita - Art Director, Thomas J. Mack - Associate Producer, Richard Pagano - Casting, Debi Manwiller - Casting, Sharon Bialy - Casting, Luke Reichle - Costume Designer, Michael Ritchie - Director, Pembroke J. Herring - Editor, Don Zimmerman - Editor, Jack Cummins - Executive Producer, Herb Nanas - Executive Producer, Bill Conti - Composer (Music Score), Kim Ornitz - Musical Direction/Supervision, Stephen Hendrickson - Production Designer, Laszlo Kovacs - Cinematographer, Andre Morgan - Producer, Albert S. Ruddy - Producer, Merideth Boswell - Set Designer, Thomas Betts - Set Designer, Gina B. Cranham - Set Designer, Andrew Bergman - Screenwriter, Albert Brooks - Screenwriter, Monica Johnson - Screenwriter
Al Percolo (Albert Brooks) is a major league baseball scout with the New York Yankees who is banished to the Mexican countryside after his latest discovery suffers an extreme case of stage fright that leads him to vomit on the pitcher's mound. While attending a game in Mexico, the very desperate Percolo finds Steve Nebraska (Brendan Fraser), a young American with a perfectly consistent 100 mph fastball and who, as a bonus, hits home runs on seemingly each at-bat.
Percolo notifies the Yankee brass of his find, but he is unceremoniously fired and told not to bring anyone back. Undaunted, he takes Steve back to the United States with him, becoming his unofficial agent in the process. He arranges an open audition in front of representatives from every team. A bidding war ensues after Steve effortlessly strikes out Keith Hernández and homers off Bret Saberhagen. (Both athletes play themselves in the film.) Nebraska soon signs a $55 million contract -- which, in 1994, would have been the highest-paying contract in baseball history -- with Al's old team, the Yankees.
Difficulties arise as Yankee management demands that the eccentric Steve be psychiatrically evaluated in order to ensure he will not turn out to be as unstable as Al's earlier finds. Al picks a psychiatrist named "H. Aaron" out of the Yellow Pages, appreciating the similarity to Hank Aaron and expecting a quick evaluation, followed by a massive payday for both Steve and himself. However, the doctor (Dianne Wiest) finds Steve to be a deeply troubled young man, so severely abused as a child that he's blocked just about every memory of his early life.
Al begs the doctor to grant a positive evaluation, promising her that Steve will undergo therapy before beginning his professional career. She gives her reluctant consent.
Soon the Yankees reach the World Series. Steve is contractually obligated to play, despite not being mentally prepared to do so. By the night of the big game, Steve ends up atop Yankee Stadium, refusing to come down to pitch. Al pleads with him to play. However, his conscience gets the better of him and Al offers the kid a chance to walk away from it all, no strings attached.
The scout's loyalty convinces Steve to face reality (as well as realizing that the worst that can happen is that he'll lose, which he says is not so bad since half the players lose every day).
Not only does Steve return to the field, he pitches a perfect game, striking out all 27 St. Louis Cardinals batters on 81 consecutive strikes. Facing Ozzie Smith (playing himself) with two outs in the ninth inning, Steve's final pitch is so fast that it knocks down his catcher and the home plate umpire. Steve also hits two home runs to account for the only scoring in a 2-0 Yankees victory.
Production
Albert Brooks, in a July 1999 interview with Gavin Smith in Film Comment, pointed out that The Scout was originally intended for Rodney Dangerfield. "It was lying around, never going to get made, and I said I would like to do that."
Brooks contributed to a rewrite of the script because "it was written very silly," he said. The version he worked on, he added, "did not end like 'Rocky' with that bullshit big ending," but according to Brooks the studio forced Ritchie to end the film the way it did.
.jpg)
