61*
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Movie Reviews of 61*
Movie Review: Maris - the Homerun King (without steroids)
Summary: 5 Stars
Growing up in the 50's & 60's, the M&M Boys were captivating for their play & charisma. We played baseball on the sandlot & fantasized that we were one of the Yankees as we hit, fielded & argued. Roger Maris was my idol. In the years long since, having pursued a career & raised a family, I was recently shocked to hear he is not in the HOF!!! This movie is so well done by Billy Crystal! Barry Pepper turns in an outstanding performance and the filming is spectacular. The storyline depicts the rabid press..bombastic in their assaults polarizing fans to all but destroy a humble, modest man, who once loved the game of baseball. They wrote flagrantly untrue stories & the Yankees failed to protect him. His tombstone reads: 61 in '61 Against all odds, and indeed it was! The movie tells it like it was...a womanizing, alcoholic Mantle contrasted to a devoted team player & family man - Maris. He cared so much for Mantle & rescued him by asking him to live w/ he & Bob Cerv...thus beginning the fabulous drive in '61...the mesmerizing pursuit of the HR record by both Mantle & Maris. Roger Maris was a 4x All Star, 2x MVP, HR record holder & should have won the MVP in '62, outplaying Mantle, but lost in a believed contrived ballot. Maris fought many injuries & was expected to play w/ a fractured hand & excruciating pain in '64 when Yankee Mgr Houk, refused to divulge the fracture to Maris until the end of the season after he had his own x-ray taken, revealing the fractured hand. He played on multiple pennant & WS teams, ultimately retiring w/ the Cardinals. His bat & ball are in the HOF & it is long overdue that the King receive his crown! See this movie. It is beautiful! I've watched it again & again. The extras are great as well!Movie Review: A Baseball Classic
Summary: 5 Stars
Upon its release, 61* immediately became a classic. The baseball scenes are the best of any movie ever. You never feel like you're watching actors. But the key to the movie is its realism. Thomas Jane and Barry Pepper are extraordinary as Mantle and Maris, respectively. Everything from their batting stances to the way they stand in the lockerroom is perfect. And older baseball fans will love seeing Yankee Stadium at its finest, complete with Bob Shephard as himself. In the broadcast booth comes more of 61*'s subtle brilliance. Behind Mel Allen and Phil Rizzuto is a WPIX 11 sign, which was the Yankees' flagship station for 40 years. It may not seem like much, but it is just part of the painstaking efforts to make the movie as real as possible. What many baseball movies lack is dialogue from broadcasters. They tend to say the score, situation, etc., but rarely tell stories, which---as any baseball fan knows---is how most air time is spent. 61*, however, features several moments where Rizzuto talks about lasagne he ate at a restaurant, wishing happy birthdays to fans, and joking about how the outfielders positioned themselves when he was batting. Baseball fans should eat that stuff up. The movie has minor flaws---Bob Cerv began the season with LA, for instance---but nothing that detracts from its overall greatness. Everyone involved in this movie, from Billy Crystal to all the actors, did their best to recreate the most famous season any sport has ever seen. If you are a baseball fan, you absolutely must see this movie. If you're not a baseball fan, you should still see it. Fifty years from now, 61* will be as much a classic as Field of Dreams or Bull Durham.Movie Review: Baseball near the end of innocence.
Summary: 5 Stars
Most films that try to capture the significance of a sporting event from a by-gone era suffer because they fail to attach it to any historical context. Upon first view, I thought that "61*" was somewhat guilty of that. It was an unfair opinion because at that time I had just finished watching "Seabiscuit" and "Miracle", both of which are slightly superior films. Now, however, I've had a change of mind after a second viewing. Billy Crystal has done an enormous job in capturing the M&M boys of 1961.
Crystal has all the bases covered (bad pun intended). He covers Maris' can-do spirit as he approaches the Babe's single-season home run mark. However, Crystal also covers the hostility this drew from the press and the fans. Barry Pepper does a great job conveying Maris' quiet suffering that the anger spawned. Meanwhile, Maris' friend, the beloved Mickey Mantle is also nearing Ruth's record, but doesn't generate such animosity. Off the field, however, Crystal shows us Mantle making that changeover from a fun-loving young man to an almost self-destructing adult. Around these two men, the press--specifically the voracious New York press--circles like vultures.
The side characters are fairly well-rounded and well-portrayed: specifically, Anthony Michael Hall as Whitey Ford.
Crystal's fondness for the era is evident in every scene. Fortunately, he doesn't wax too nostalgic. Instead, he gives us an honest view of a time when baseball was barely clinging to its innocence, and of a man who did not deserve the hostility and the asterisk that haunted him.
Movie Review: For The Love of Baseball Greats and Their Love Of the Game
Summary: 5 Stars
This is difinitely a must see movie.It deals with the true nature of the game of baseball, the love of the game that these players had. They weren't in it for the money, they played because they love the game.It also shows that no matter what life puts in your path that you still go on, such as Maris did even when faced with the hate mail and the crank calls,like he said when Mantle told him to gorget about the hate mail. Maris's response was he couldn't because there good ones from the kids and he couldn't disappoint the kids,to him that was all it was about. And even Mantle who was battling with his health he still continued as did many great players. This film is an inspiration to all, about what we can acheive if we try. This film was very important in my house even more, because I have a son with special needs and he loves baseball and wants to play proffessionally someday, even with all that he has wrong, he somehow has found the abilitiy to throw a ball hard and fast enough that is hurts a grown mans hand when they catch it, and he hits a ball that just seems to fly. This movie meant alot to him, that no matter what he faces in life that his dream can come true. This movie has the ability to have people see what the game and the men Maris and Mantle stood for, its a movie for all to see and I hope they do, I watch it alot. It gives me the feeling that you are there with them and you feel every emotion , good or bad with them, and you walk away feeling something different and new everytime.Don't just take my word for it, see the movie and you will see the magic it has.Movie Review: Five Stars Is Not Enough
Summary: 5 Stars
It was the summer of 1961, Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle were chasing the illusive home run record held by none other than Babe Ruth. This is the story of that fateful summer. "61*" is probably one of the best baseball movies I have ever seen. I would have never imagined that Billy Crystal would have ever been able to put together such a great film. The cast in this movie is wonderful. Roger Maris, played by Barry Pepper, who was also in "Saving Private Ryan" and "The Green Mile," was played very well. I can't comment on accuracy of the actual character as I was not alive when this story took place. But, the roles were very believable. The struggle that Roger Maris went through as a result of the media blitz that surrounded him and the ghost of Babe Ruth, must have been so painful.
Now, I don't claim to be a baseball expert, nor would I say that I am actually a fan of the game in the state it is in today. But, this film was when baseball was a game and people still played for the love of the game. Yes, there were rich ballplayers, but many still had winter jobs and needed playoff bonuses to stay afloat. They had a head for the game and they had heart for the game, now most have a head for the game and a heart for real estate.
This movie is wonderful. If I was a producer, I would defiantly give Billy Crystal money for a movie. . . I do know that Mr. Crystal is a fan of the game. So, I do wonder slightly if the movie is accurate or if it a fan piece. . . But, honestly, I do not care. The story was amazing.
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