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Actors: Barry Pepper, Thomas Jane, Donald Moffett
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| Review Summary and Plot Commentary about Sixty-One* |
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The 1961 season is chronicled in this movie. The biggest story from that season is the day Roger Maris hit his 61st home run. But alas, it came way after the deadline game (No. 154) had passed, since Babe Ruth had 60 in 1927, when they still played 154 games. And because of this, Major League Baseball marked the achievement with an asterisk. As Maris assaulted Ruth's record, his hair fell out and he faced unfriendly reports from the media. But his record proved to be breakable, as Mark McGwire hit 70 home runs in 1998 and Sammy Sosa 66 the same year. Three years later, Barry Bonds would top Big Mac with 73 dingers. I wonder who'll break Bonds' record, but the logical choice would be no one.
--Teddy, Resident Scholar
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If Billy Crystal overdoes his “my first Yankees game” sentimentality, his HBO film, “61*” nails every detail of the 1961 home run race between Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle. Crystal even modified old Tiger Stadium for realism. Barry Pepper as Maris and Thomas Jane as Mantle are superb as is a supporting cast portraying teammates Whitey Ford and Yogi Berra (“90% of baseball is half mental.”)
The movie is told in flashback by Maris' widow as Mark McGuire ties her husband's record of 61 home runs. When Maris performed the identical feat, Commissioner Ford Frick undermined it in the record books with the infamous “asterisk.”
The bashful Maris is no Mickey Mantle, and is certainly no Babe Ruth. As deadline game #154 approaches, Maris is assaulted by the press and the fans. The climaxes in Baltimore and Cleveland are heartbreakingly accurate in establishing why Maris' achievement remained tarnished for the next 24 years.
--Angry Jim Magin, Resident Scholar
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| Analysis of Sixty-One* |
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Time/era of movie:
- 1960's-1970's
Kind of sports story:
- baseball
Sports story?
Yes
Job/Profession/Poverty Story?
Yes
Job:
- athlete
Main Character
Identity:
- Male
Profession/status:
- athlete
Age:
- 20's-30's
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events?
Yes
Hair color?
- blonde
- brunette (Black)
Hair type
- (man) short/standard straight
Body type
- (man) muscular
Events of movie makes character more...
- aggressive
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
How sensitive is this character?
- sensitive to others' feelings
- middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor?
- Cynical sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Average intelligence
Physique
- very athletic
Secondary Main Character
Identity:
- Male
Hair color
- brunette (Brown)
Hair style
- (man) short/standard straight
- (man) short/standard wavey
Body type
- (man) muscular
How much in movie?
- 60%
- 90%-100%
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
Main Adversary
Identity:
- Male
Age:
- 40's-50's
- 60's-90's
Profession/status:
- journalist
- a lawyer creature
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- 20%
- 90%-100%
Hair color
- brunette (Black)
Hair type
- (man) short/standard wavey
Body type
- (man) fat
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
How sensitive is this character?
- hard edged
Sense of humor
- Cynical sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Average intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- average physique
Setting
United States
Yes
The US:
- Northeast
- California
City?
Yes
City:
- New York
- Los Angeles
- Washington D.C.
- Chicago
- Boston
Misc setting
- sports arena
- bar
Style
Accounts of torture and death?
- no torture/death
Movie makes you feel...
- frustrated
- excited
Any profanity?
- Occasional swearing
Is this movie based on a
- book
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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