Review of 61* (2001) by Alex M — 30 Apr 2010

61* is an endearing ode to the baseball days of yore when the press was the enemy, salaries were in check, and breaking records with bat and glove took on Ruthian proportions. In 1961 baseball expanded its season from 154 games to 162, allowing weaker pitching into the major leagues and two New York Yankees teammates, the colorless Roger Maris and golden boy Mickey Mantle.

To make an assault on the sport's ultimate record: Babe Ruth's 60 home runs. To add to the stew, baseball commissioner Ford Frick announced any record set in the last eight games of the season wouldn't count toward the official record; records had to be achieved in 154 games.

This movie for me is amazing, I love many thing in life and baseball is one of them. If you watch this movie you get a fealling of nostalgia, is so well done, you feal you go back in time, "well at least thats how I felt". The music, the setting, and of course the famous Yankee Statium (as it use to look), is just breath taking.

The cast is absolutely superb, with actor Pepper looking so much like Maris I could hardly believe it. And Thomas Jane takes on Mantle's persona incredibly well. In one scene, the way he folded the baseball cap's bill and how he held the angle of his head -- suddenly Thomas Jane WAS Mantle. It was downright eerie. The acting, the script, the supporting cast were perfect.

Of course Crystal cleverly ties the 1961 record race with Sosa and McGwine's homerun race in the 90's, with Mrs. Maris reprising the bittersweet role of the Babe's widow, watching nervously as the most treasured achievement of her late husband is threatened. This device, following the widows of the greats was a fantastic way to tie the threads of history together, from the Babe, to Maris, up to McGwine.

If your a baseball fan like me watch if not, dont worry is a beautiful movie that deserve to be seen by anybody . . . .