61*

Director Billy Crystal guarantees success for his movie in the perfect casting of the leads. Barry Pepper (Saving Private Ryan's religious sniper) is deft as Maris, and Thomas Jane is a perfect Mantle, a superman in a Yankee uniform. Despite the differences between family man Maris and hard-living Mantle, they form a rewarding friendship amid the media and fan frenzy. The shy Maris took the brunt of the storm, even facing boo-birds in his home stadium. Crystal and first-time writer Hank Steinberg keep the pace moving quickly between the field, the locker room, the press box, and the home front. The film never tries to dazzle with more than the facts (and it softens Mantle up a bit), yet it belongs on the short list of grand baseball movies. --Doug Thomas

Customer Reviews:

• Roger Marris should be in the Hall of Fame!: This DVD is another great baseball movie. It highlights a number of reasons why the Home Run King for over 60 years should be in the Hall of Fame regadless of other things he did or didn't do. He is the link to the record and with a steroids era, maybe he still is the Home Run King! Think about it and enjoy the story!
• Great Baseball Movie: I'm not even a huge baseball fan, but I enjoyed this movie very much. All of my Yankee friends love this true-story-based movie, though not many ever heard about it before they watched it. Definitely a quality hour or so to spend in front of the TV.
• Very Interesting: This movie is well-done. They paid attention to details. Billy Crystal is a fan who remembers this era fondly and did a great job telling the very interesting story of Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris. These are names I remember from growing up, but I knew little about. Having the two men on the Yankees at the same time, each aiming to beat the home run record Babe Ruth had set as a Yankee, makes for a fascinating story.
  
  The only problem with the movie is the language is foul (so to speak). The swearing and use of various words is way over the top and distracts from the story. It should have been made as a family movie because the appeal of this story crosses all generational lines. If it weren't for the language, this movie would deserve even more than five stars.
  
  The special features are very worth watching. They show just how much detail they put into every aspect of this movie--from the color of the stadium, to the swings of the two players.
  
  If the language won't bother you, I highly recommend this movie. If it had a rating, it most certainly would be rated "R", so keep that in mind when considering showing it to children.
• Maris and Mantle as they should have been - great story, if far from historically accurate: This terrific film by Billy Crystal highlights the 1961 chase for the HR record between Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris. Both players were trying to surpass Babe Ruth's single season home run record of 60, and the battle lasted for most of the season until Mantle got hurt. The only drama was then whether Maris was going to do it or not. I'm sure if you are reading this, you already know how it ends! There are several subplots to this tale, however. Mantle was the darling of the NY fans, and Maris was never popular. The fans and the media didn't want the Babe's record to be broken, but if it was going to be broken, everyone wanted Mantle to do it, not Maris. A secondary subplot (related to the title of the film) describes how, when Maris broke the record, the HR title was entered into the record book with an asterisk, denoting that Maris's 61 HRs were obtained in a 162 game season. The seasons were only 154 games in the Babe's time. Maris never received in his lifetime the credit that was due him for this monumental achievement, and I think Crystal wanted to relive his youth through this film and right a wrong.
  
  This is a great film, even if you aren't a baseball fan or a Yankees fan (OK, I admit it, I'm part of Red Sox nation!). The story is well acted, the choice of Pepper and Jane to play Maris and Mantle was outstanding. The vignette at the end is particularly touching. Crystal shows actual footage of Mark McGwire breaking Maris's record in the late 90s, then going to talk with Maris's widow and family in the stands. There are a great number of historical inaccuracies in the film, particularly the portrayal of Mantle. This is Billy Crystal's image of Mantle through a boy's eyes, more of how Mantle should have been, not what he was. This is a minor quibble though. If you don't appreciate this film, you aren't an American and don't understand a thing about the United States.
• The House that Roger Rocked: Most sports fans know that Yankee Stadium was called the house that Ruth built since Babe Ruth was such a big draw he had helped them raise the money for the new stadium. When Roger Maris threatened to shatter his home run record, he received a great deal of torment from the people of New York. They felt he was an outsider. This is an excellent baseball movie. It shows Mickey Mantle's and Roger Maris's life in detail during the 1961 season. Their highs and lows and how they lived together and got along. I highly recommend this for the whole family. It is far cleaner than many sports movies. Barry Pepper and Thomas Jane do a remarkable job portraying Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle . The DVD picture and sound are sharp and it includes several features along with the commentary. This is one DVD I plan to add to my collection.