61* (2001) ¢ ¢ 1/2
D: Billy Crystal
Barry Pepper, Thomas Jane, Richard Masur,
Bruce McGill, Christopher McDonald, Donald Moffat,
Jennifer Crystal Foley, Robert Joy, Michael Nouri,
Seymour Cassel, Anthony Michael Hall, Renee Taylor
Before BALCO and Andro, before McGuire and Sosa and Bonds, there was 1961, and a mutual quest by New York Yankees outfielders Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris to break Babe Ruth's single-season home run record. Mantle was the fans' favorite, a great ballplayer and chronic party animal who thrived in the spotlight. Maris was the opposite of that: a basically unassuming guy who could field well and hit for power, who became more and more unsettled as the record and the glare of public attention closed in. As a lifelong Yankees fan, Billy Crystal has a passion for the story that can't be dismissed, even if the script never deviates from what's already obvious. Pepper, who looks a lot like Maris, and Jane, who's a dead ringer for Mantle, are more than capable in the leads, and when you consider what players were being paid back then (Maris got $38,000 the year he broke the record), and the principal substances they used (beer and unfiltered Camels), you get a real sense of how the game has changed.
