Review of Fear Strikes Out (1957) by Greg P — 17 Jan 2008

1950's true life baseball story of the enigmatic Jimmy Piersall, shows what happens when a father pushes his son too hard to live out his own dream. The film starts out pretty much by the book, showing how he ascended into the majors, but really takes a wrong turn a little too far into left field.

Although the story is true, it becomes an exercise in melodrama instead of digging deeper into the psychology of the mental breakdown. The ending was also underwhelming and lacked triumph. Perkins was pretty good going beserk during the games, and Malden seamlessly filled the role of overbearing father, and it's worth seeing for that, but it's an overall not-quite-satisfying movie.