MovieChat Forums > Angels in the Outfield (1994) Discussion > Why didn't Roger talk to Al about his da...

Why didn't Roger talk to Al about his dad?

posted 11 years ago by CorleoneFan
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What Roger really wanted was to get reunited with his father. Deep down I know he could care less about the baseball team, he was rooting for them to win so he could have a family. Of course he didn't understand that his dad was being sarcastic (or cynical) when he was told they would be a family when the Angels win the pennant, but I wonder why Roger never asked Al this question or why Al never opened up this subject with Roger. I mean, I suppose that Al and his team of angels were helping the team win not to get Roger reunited with this dad, but to develop a bond between Roger, JP, and George Know which seems that that was the true will of God: for George Knox to adopt Roger and JP because they needed an angel to look out for them or to save them and that was George Knox. George Know also needed an angel or angels to save him from his distressing life circumstances and those two boys were his angels. In the end, Knox was the boys angel and the two boys were George Knox angels. But I always thought that Al should have appeared to Roger at the courtroom scene when his dad releases him, as that is when Roger needed to talk to an angel the most. At the final game, there is a whole scene devoted to Al explaining to Roger that Mel Clark is going to die in 6 months and that Al tells Roger to concentrate on his own life, but what I don't understand is WHY DIDN'T ROGER ASK AL ABOUT HIS FATHER AND ABOUT WHEN HE IS GOING TO HAVE A FAMILY??? This could have been a good time for Al to explain to Roger the nature and life circumstances of his father and why it wasn't the will of God. Or is this all based on the notion that God works in mysterious ways and sometimes people need to figure things out on their own without having all the details spelled out for them??

Any thoughts??

[–] byson5186 11 years ago

Like most movies, I can say because this is a movie. Sorry if that's the answer you don't like. But, the producers obviously intended for a Disney comedy movie showing Angels in the Outfield, literally. They obviously intended to make a Disney baseball movie, and wanted to come up with a story of a kid praying for his baseball team to get a family, and showing angels helping the Angels win. The movie would have had a different plot if his Dad said they'd be a family some other way, so a kid taking his Dad's words literally. The angels helping the team out were obviously there for comic purposes, and Al was always there for comic purposes. It would have made the movie more serious if Al appeared to Roger in the courtroom and the next scenes show how Roger's sadness leads to his further relationship with George Knox, as he would later be his Dad. So, the producers did this most likely to show a funny movie about a kids prayer being answered with angels helping a team in a comic way. Also, to show how a kid seeing angels leads to his relationship with the coach and gets a family in the end. The angels were meant for comic rather than serious purposes.