Tom Berenger: From “Platoon” to “Major League” and more

Tom Berenger, at right, as Jake Taylor in the 1989 film "Major League". Here, he celebrates

with manager Lou Brown played by James Gammon.

Source: https://www.cinemablend.com/news/2571156/major-league-cool-behind-the-scenes-facts-about-the-baseball-comedy

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There was a time I detested him as an actor. He played a foul character in a Vietnam War movie who essentially arranged the death of another, more likable character.

Then, just three years later, I shook that memory of Tom Berenger as the despicable Sergeant Barnes in “Platoon”. It was replaced by a memorable performance in one of my favourite movies of all time – Jake Taylor, catcher of the Cleveland Indians in “Major League”.

It was Berenger’s birthday yesterday, and no better time to look back at “Platoon”; “Major League”; and so much more.

The early years
It turns out I actually did see Tom Berenger a lot before “Platoon”. In 1979, he played a young Butch Cassidy with William Katt, who played a young Sundance Kid, in “Butch and Sundance: The Early Years”. It was on a Saturday night on Channel 13 on peasant vision a few years after it came out. It was good casting because Berenger and Katt could be taken for a young Paul Newman and Robert Redford.

In 1983, Berenger was in “The Big Chill”, as one of the friends who comes back for the funeral of an old friend.

That same year he was in a movie I still love called “Eddie and the Cruisers”. He played Frank Ridgeway, the keyboardist of a ‘60s band whose leader Eddie died a mysterious death years before. Now, there is talk there may be a lost album of music, and Eddie may actually still be alive. Berenger is excellent playing opposite Michael Paré as Eddie.

Berenger was also in “Fear City” in 1984 and “Rustlers’ Rhapsody” in 1985, before he hit it big with his next movie.

In the army now
Berenger played Bob Barnes in “Platoon” in 1986. It was a dark movie, directed by Oliver Stone, about the Vietnam War. Charlie Sheen plays Chris Taylor, a young soldier who falls into the orbit of two sergeants – Barnes and Elias – who don’t get along. Ultimately, Barnes engineers the death of Elias, but Taylor will exact his revenge. It is a dark, haunting movie that was a massive critical success.

Tom Berenger was nominated for an Oscar for Best Suppporting Actor, and won a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture.

Barnes was brutal and calculating, and I really didn’t like him at all.

Protective custody
It was years before I actually saw “Someone to Watch Over Me”, but it was Berenger’s next movie after “Platoon”, coming out in 1987. He plays a police detective assigned to protect a wealthy woman, played by Mimi Rogers, who is a witness in a murder trial. Eventually, they become romantically involved. However, that doesn’t last, and they go their separate ways after the trial.

Berenger would then appear in three movies in 1988 – “Shoot to Kill”; “Last Rites”; and “Betrayed”, where he plays a seemingly nice man who is actually a neo-Nazi thug.

The big leagues
“Major League”, by far my favourite Tom Berenger movie, and one of my favourite movies of all time came out in 1989. The new owner of the Cleveland Indians has a plan. She wants a team so horrible it will drive away the fans, and give her a strong case to move the club to Miami. This movie is four years before Major League Baseball actually expanded into Florida.

She essentially guts the team, and the replacements are a collection of has-beens and never wases. Leading this motley crew is catcher Jake Taylor, played by Berenger, who has been hobbled by injuries and whose best days are behind him.

However, under the tutelage of old school manager Lou Brown, played masterfully by James Gammon, the Indians come together as a team and compete for the playoffs.

Berenger steals every scene he is in, whether as the leader of the ball team on and off the field, or when he is trying to pursue his old girlfriend, played by Rene Russo.

It is an amazing movie, and made Tom Berenger one of my more favourite actors.

The years after
Tom Berenger continues to act to this day in movies and television.

On the big screen he has been I movies such as “Born on the Fourth of July”; “Shattered”; “Sliver”; “Chasers”; “At Play in the Fields of the Lord”; “Sniper”; “Major League II”; “The Substitute”; “The Gingerbread Man”; “Shadow of Doubt”; “Training Day”; “Inception”; and much more.

On television he had a guest spots on “Cheers”, where he was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series; “Law and Order”; “Ally McBeal”; “Third Watch”; “October Road” for 19 episodes; “Hatfields and McCoys”, where he won the Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie; “Hawaii Five-0”; and more.

Parting thoughts
It is the true mark of a good actor who can make you hate one character, then fall in love with another one.

Tom Berenger did precisely that, making me hate Sergeant Barnes in “Platoon”, then making me love Jake Taylor in “Major League”. To this day, Jake Taylor is one of my favourite characters in any sports movie.

And Tom Berenger brought him to life.