61* (2001 TV Movie) User Reviews

An absolute home run

[hall895 · 9/10 · 8 June 2005]

Billy Crystal hits it out of the park with 61*. Brilliantly cast, beautifully shot and at times brutally honest in its storytelling, 61* is an absolute gem.

Any baseball fan well knows the story of the great home run chase of 1961. Here, Crystal peels back the curtain and brings us up close and personal with the men who made that season so memorable. In Barry Pepper, who plays Roger Maris, and Thomas Jane, as Mickey Mantle, Crystal found two actors absolutely perfect for their respective roles. The way Pepper and Jane perfectly captured the essence of these real-life heroes goes far beyond the eerie physical resemblances the actors have to the men they portray. Maris was a quiet, serious, introspective family man. And during this particular season it could be said he was a downright tortured man as well. Pepper captures all of this wonderfully. Mantle on he other hand was an outgoing, energetic, fun-loving superstar who took full advantage of all the perks his stardom brought him. And Jane does a fine job bringing this out and really lets you see the wear and tear Mantle's lifestyle had on him as his body began to break down. It would have been easy to gloss over some of the less appealing aspects of Mantle's personality. It also would have been dishonest and Crystal is to be applauded for showing it how it really was. Mantle was a larger than life hero but he certainly had his faults and this film brings them out. Some may find the pervasive profanity and crude sexual humor in the film to be a bit over the top but an honest retelling of the story requires acknowledging the way these ballplayers really were.

61* is not just a movie about baseball, it is at its heart a movie about Roger Maris and the key relationships in his life. Maris and Mantle, Maris and his wife, Maris and the oppressive press...these relationships are all explored as we learn much more about Roger Maris the man than Roger Maris the baseball player. Maris had to overcome a great deal to accomplish what he did and this film does a brilliant job of bringing us along on his magical ride.

The best non-fiction sports movie that I've ever seen!

[leczorn · 9/10 · 12 November 2004]

Being 33 years old as of this writing, I knew little about the Roger Maris-Mickey Mantle home run chase of 1961 until the Mark McGwire-Sammy Sosa home run chase of 1998. I didn't learn a whole lot about the '61 chase in '98 but I learned enough to develop a solid interest in it.

Still, I didn't have very high hopes for "61*." Most of the made for TV movies that I've seen haven't made a strong impression on me, including those made for cable TV, as this was (for HBO). Furthermore, I've never been a big Billy Crystal fan. Though I love comedy, I've never found him to be that funny. And I didn't have a lot of confidence in him to make a good drama, either.

And on top of all that, I often find sports biography movies to be disappointing, often leaving out important details while at the same time over-Hollywoodizing. "Rudy," for example. But when I saw the DVD of "61*" at a Family Dollar store, priced at just $6, I took a chance and bought it. And I'm glad I did!

Crystal won tremendous respect from me with this movie. Almost flawlessly, he tells one of the most interesting single season sports stories that I know of. And I know of more than probably 99% of the American population!

From the start, the 1961 Major League Baseball season was ripe to be a classic. Babe Ruth's single season home run record of 60, set in 1927, was more vulnerable than ever because of two major changes. The Los Angeles (later California and now Anaheim) Angels and Washington Senators (now Texas Rangers) began play, thus spreading the pitching talent more thinly. And the regular season increased in length from 154 games - which had also been the season length in 1927 - to 162, as it remains today.

The biggest reason why I find the '61 chase more interesting than the '98 chase is that in '61, the top two contenders were teammates. Both played for - who else - the New York Yankees. One was Mickey Mantle (played by Thomas Jane), who had already spent a decade with the Yankees and was unquestionably the biggest star of the day. The other was Roger Maris (Barry Pepper), who was much less heralded. Maris had just emerged as a star the year before, winning the American League Most Valuable Player award in his Yankees debut, which followed three solid but unspectacular years with other Major League teams.

Both Mantle and Maris hailed from rural states - Oklahoma and North Dakota, respectively - but were very different people. Mantle epitomized the word "superstar." Besides excelling at every area of the game, he was a charismatic, care free party animal and a fan favorite, the natural heir to Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio and other legends. In sharp contrast, Maris was an introvert who largely shunned the spotlight. He loved the game but never attempted to be what the media and fans wanted him to be.

(On a side note, I'm a Maris sympathizer because I can relate to being rejected by people who I don't bother simply because I don't follow the crowd and I believe in judging people based on substance more than anything else. Yankees fans should have loved Maris and embraced his phenomenal achievement that year.)

As the season progressed and both Mantle and Maris stayed near the pace to break Ruth's record, it was obvious that the fans favored Mantle by far. And when Mantle was slowed by injuries, the fans generally ranged from lukewarm to hostile in their treatment of Maris as he neared the record. For example, the Yankees' last game of the regular season, which they hosted, drew a crowd of just 22,000 even though Maris entered the game tied with Ruth and even though the Yankees went on to win the World Series that year.

This is a sharp contrast to 1998, when McGwire regularly filled stadiums in pursuit of Maris' record even though McGwire's team didn't even make the playoffs that season. And in sharp contrast to McGwire's enthusiasm for breaking the record, Maris did not seem to get a lot of joy out of it. He had a difficult time dealing with negativity from the media and fans and also missed the birth of a son during the season.

There are so many things to love about "61*" that it's hard to list them all. The movie does a great job recreating 1961 in every way. Crystal even managed to find actors to play not only most of the significant Yankees of the season but also many of their opponents. That is not the case with most sports biography movies.

Pepper and Jane both give excellent performances and strongly resemble the men who they play. And the movie is very fair and balanced. It presents the perspectives of both Mantle and Maris and gives us an up close look at their relationship behind the scenes, which was fairly good, all things considered. Mantle even moved in with Maris during the season.

The movie doesn't white wash either man, neither of whom was squeaky clean, but it doesn't resort to sensationalism, either. For example, it shows Mantle drink alcohol enough in the movie that we realize he drank too much alcohol, but it doesn't dwell on that fact. In addition, the movie gives us insight into Mantle's philosophy. The men in his family all died by the age of 45 so he figured he wasn't going to live a long life and therefore didn't see a need to take good care of himself.

(Shortly before his death from cancer in 1995 at the age of 63, he acknowledged that he would have taken care of himself had he known that he was going to live so long. And in response to witnessing by former Yankees teammate Bobby Richardson, who became a minister after retiring from baseball, Mantle repented and became a Christian.)

I've found little to criticize about this movie. I've discovered only a few inaccuracies in it - far less than other sports biography movies - and most are minor. The main thing that I wish Crystal had done differently was to give some information about what ended up happening to Mantle and Maris.

Both largely went downhill from there. After a 1962 season that was very good, but far below his '61 magic, Maris fell into mediocrity and injuries. He never made the Hall of Fame and died of lymphoma on Dec. 14, 1985 (my 15th birthday) at the age of 15.

Mantle had a few more good seasons, but soon his hard living caught up with him, as mentioned above.

In addition to the movie, the DVD of "61*" contains an excellent 51 minute documentary about the movie, the Yankees and the '61 season, hosted by Crystal. The documentary contains extensive information about the making of the movie and lots of great stories from Crystal, whose love for and vast knowledge of both the game and the Yankees is absolutely infectious.

However, because this movie is unrated, I caution you that this is not a family movie. There is enough profanity and crude sexual humor to get it at least an easy PG-13 rating.

In conclusion, the movie and the documentary combine to make "61*" a great buy, especially if you find it at as low a price as I did! 9/10.

To Be A Yankee In 1961

[bkoganbing · 9/10 · 22 November 2008]

I was 14 and living in Brooklyn during the baseball season of 1961. We were still a borough in mourning at the loss of our beloved Dodgers in 1958 and even their rivals the Giants from Manhattan. For four seasons and 1961 was to be the last of them the Yankees had the exclusive attention of the New York baseball fans.

Another of those fans at the time was Billy Crystal who grew up to be a comedian of some note and on the 40th anniversary of that season and the home run chase for Babe Ruth's seasonal record of 60 home runs, sought to bring back that season and what it meant to be a Yankee and a Yankee fan that year.

Barry Pepper and Thomas Jayne play Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle who went on a dual chase that year for that most sacred of all records. Sacred because it had been set by a man who revolutionized the game itself and was one of the most colorful sports personalities that America ever produced. It was so held sacred that former sportswriter Ford Frick who was baseball commissioner at the time and former Babe Ruth ghostwriter decreed that it could only be broken in the first 154 games, that if it was broken in the new 162 game schedule, separate records noted with the asterisk would be in the books.

The Yankees themselves were on fire that season. They were not just about Mantle and Maris. The middle infield combination of Bobby Richardson and Tony Kubek seemed to be turning double-plays on an almost alarming routine basis, becoming the best at what they did. Elston Howard in his first year as the regular catcher hit for the highest average on the team, .348 and contended for the batting title. Whitey Ford who previous manager Casey Stengel would not give rotation starts to, was put in a set pitching rotation by Ralph Houk and responded with his career season of 25 and 4. He also did his assault on Babe Ruth by breaking his pitching record of 29 2/3 scoreless innings in the World Series against Cincinnati that year.

As for home-runs, the team itself set a record of 240 season home-runs for a team. Everybody pitched in that year to win the pennant and blow Cincinnati out in five games in the World Series.

But the story was Mantle and Maris who despite rumors fueled by sportswriters looking for or to create a good story, Mickey and Roger actually shared living quarters in Queens with teammate Bob Cerv. By the way if there are villains in this film it's the writers. They are really shown as one scurvy lot. I think that if Mickey and Roger saw the film, they'd just groove on the way they were portrayed.

Although both guys were from red state Middle America, they were as opposite as you can get. Mantle was quite the hedonist back in the day and Crystal doesn't flinch in showing him that way. Maris on the other hand was a family man first and foremost. He was also very conscious of the fact that Mantle was there in New York first and fans wanted him to be the record breaker.

Watching 61* was certainly reliving a lot of my 14th year over again. The Yankees were awesome that year, like I've never seen them before or since, not even the recent teams with Joe Torre as manager. 61* now ranks as one of the great baseball films ever.

No summer like that summer of 61*.

Tribute to American legend Roger Maris

[donwan47 · 10/10 · 1 March 2005]

As a Scotsman raised on football and rugby American sports have often left me cold and were a subject of derision in my household as a child. This film ,brilliantly directed by Billy Crystal, changed all that for me. I bought this film through a region 1 DVD supplier as it is unavailable in the UK and was moved to tears by its moving and heartfelt depiction of the late great Roger Maris who in one season became the most misunderstood and hated figure in baseball history. His crime- he dared to challenge a thirty four year old record set by Babe Ruth for the most home runs scored in a single season and even worse he was in competition with teammate Mickey Mantle for the record. Mantle at the time was the darling of NY Yankee fans and was probably the greatest player of his day, Maris was a small town boy who played the game only as a means to an end, to provide for his family, and cared little for public opinion or the press. The venom to which he is subjected to by the press and fans, brought on by immoral reporters, will make any sports fan angry. This film was a work of joy for director Billy Crystal and his love for the project shows in every shot and especially in the directors commentary. Barry Pepper is an uncanny Roger Maris and his amazing performance pulls us into the suffering the player must have felt. Thomas Jane is a brilliant Mickey Mantle playing the role of American legend with biblical sincerity. The whole project feels classy at all times, despite being made for T.V, and is a monument to both players and the era in which they lived. The film is rounded of by an appearance during the credits by Mickey Mantle's son and grandson, pure class and a tribute to the boyhood idol of Billy Crystal All in all well done to Billy Crystal and cast. Thank you for a wonderful 2hrs and 9mins. I am only sad it wasn't longer. But it has introduced me to the sport of baseball and has compelled me to learn more of both Maris and Mantle. So it has placed me on a journey of discovery. What higher compliment can I pay?

A Grand Slammer for Crystal & Cast

[mlevans · 27 April 2002]

Billy Crystal lovingly looks back at the New York Yankees of his childhood in `61.' The movie follows teammates Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle through the 1961 baseball season, in which Maris did the unimaginable - and unforgivable, in the eyes of many fans. He broke Babe Ruth's sacred 1927 record of 60 home runs in a season. Mantle chasing the Babe was one thing; Maris doing it was quite another. The self-proclaimed redneck from North Dakota, ill at ease around the big city media and hoopla, was not the golden boy that Mantle was. The Mick had owned New York for years - especially since his phenomenal triple crown year in 1956. Maris had come over from the lowly Kansas City A's a year earlier and had enjoyed what many assumed was his `career year' in 1960, winning the American League Most Valuable Player (MVP) award.

The movie focuses on more than just the home run chase. It gives a nice portrayal of Mantle and Maris as men and gives a fairly nice look at Major League life in the slightly less jaded early 1960s. The baseball scenes are quite realistic. Adding to the enjoyment for real baseball fans is the careful attention to detail. Even the opposing pitchers, trying to keep Maris from tying and breaking Babe Ruth's home run record, look real. Knuckleballer Hoyt Wilhelm looks just LIKE Hoyt Wilhelm. Jim Bunning throws just LIKE Jim Bunning. Jake Wood (seen only in a long shot, as a baserunner) looks like Jake Wood! I could go on, but won't. Attention to detail is a major plus for this production. (Note: In the midst of writing this, I just scrolled down the credits and saw that Wilhelm was portrayed by former Major League knuckleballer, Tom Candiotti! Sheesh! No WONDER his knuckleball looked real! It WAS real! lol)

Maris is played by Barry Pepper, whose physical resemblance to Maris borders on the scary! From his crewcut to his facial expressions, to his physique, Pepper looks exactly like Roger Maris in 1961! He seems to master the swing and other baseball skills, making me guess that he had played college baseball. He also turns in a convincing performance as the introverted Maris becomes the center of attention, controversy and criticism - not just in The Big Apple, but across the nation.

The performance of Thomas Jane as Mantle is also outstanding. He and Pepper accurately portray the stress of a long and grueling baseball season, made more so by separations from loved ones, the pressure of a pennant race and the ever-increasing pressure and scrutiny of the chase on Babe Ruth's hallowed record of 60 home runs. Jane captures the charisma and genuine likeability of Mantle, as well as his less attractive side as a non-attentive parent and unfaithful husband. Chris Bauer, meanwhile, is delightful as outfielder Bob Cerv (pronounced `serve'), a teammate of Maris in KC and his (and later Mantle's) roommie with the Yankees. Crystal's daughter, Jennifer Crystal Foley, is also strong as Pat Maris, struggling hard to support her stressed-out husband and manage their growing family, from halfway across the country. The rest of the cast is first-rate, as well.

The tie-in with the present day (or 1998, at least) shattering of Maris' record by Mark McGwire is effective and gives a more heartwarming feel to the film. McGwire was all class in 1998, going out of his way to accommodate the Maris family and to honor Maris himself (who had died several years earlier); of course he was buoyed by a nation that seemed to urge him on, rather than spit venom at him, like the one Maris faced. The final effect seems to be closure for the spirit of Roger Maris. Perhaps it DID take his record being broken for baseball to forgive the outsider from Dakota for having the audacity to break Ruth's record. Perhaps it DID take the goateed McGwire hitting 70 home runs for baseball fans to realize the significance and difficulty of Maris belting 61 in '61 - still the American League record, by the way. Crystal brings home his film in fine style. He also keeps it fairly clean. One off-color clubhouse exchange between Mantle and Whitey Ford seems to be tossed in primarily to give a sense of it BEING a Big League locker room. Thereafter, the film is largely suitable for the entire family. Overall, I would call `61' one of the better baseball movies ever made.

Powerful as back-to-back out of the park homers.

[michaelRokeefe · 8/10 · 2 May 2001]

This is a wonderful piece of work from director and executive producer Billy Crystal. A powerful and personal story of the little known amiable relationship between Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle during that dramatic home run race of 1961. The two sluggers were always pictured as being bitter rivals. This is a whole different tale.

Mantle(Thomas Jane)being the Yankees 'golden boy' and Maris(Barry Pepper)the ridiculed interloper learned to coexist and become the M & M Boys. Mantle being jaded by the press offered his best advice to the often stoic and sullen Maris on matters of surviving publicity. Most of the home run chase was like a masterpiece on canvas. Maris never seemed to get the respect he deserved, but his fortitude garnered him a place in baseball history. 61* would of course become 61 and then later shattered and surpassed by another home run chase.

This movie deserves being ranked among the elite of sports movies and one of the best baseball flicks ever. Pepper is outstanding as Maris. Jane takes a little warming up to as the Mick. A very talented supporting cast includes: Richard Masur, Bruce McGill & Christopher Bauer. Plus most impressive is Billy Crystal's daughter, Jennifer, playing Pat Maris.

This is a must see for every sports fan!

Before Mark McGwire There Was Maris And Mantle

[sddavis63 · 7/10 · 20 August 2001]

Produced obviously as a response to the assault by Mark McGwire (and Sammy Sosa) on baseball's single season home run record, this is a generally entertaining and well-acted story of the friendly battle waged between Yankee teammates Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris to beat Babe Ruth's home run record of 60, back in the year 1961.

Billy Crystal (who also produced) showed a surprisingly deft touch as a director, giving viewers a very realistic glimpse of life inside the pressure cooker of Yankee Stadium and major league baseball in general. Maris (Barry Pepper) comes across as an all around good guy who would really rather not be in the spotlight, who nevertheless has to deal with a hostile media and less than supportive home fans, neither of whom really want to see Ruth's record broken and who, if it is to be broken, would rather see Mantle ("the real Yankee") do it. Pepper was extremely good in this role. Thomas Jane put on an equally good performance as the wilder Mantle, who actually becomes Maris's roommate partway through the season, mainly to keep himself out of trouble.

This is an enjoyable enough baseball movie. Suspense is lacking, because we already know how the thing is going to turn out, but it's worth watching if only to see the dressing room tension building and the effect on the team as a whole. It's also an interesting look at how the media creates and destroys heroes. It's a little bit long (slightly over two hours) but very enjoyable.

7/10

Incredible baseball movie

[nucksfan4life · 10/10 · 2 June 2002]

I could spend hours trying to come up with the perfect words to describe "61*" Simply put, its one of the best baseball movies I have ever seen. Barry Pepper and Thomas Jane ARE Maris and Mantle. Billy Crystal did an exceptional job directing this picture. The acting is excellent. A great part of the movie is seeing all the old ballparks that have been refaced and digitally made to look like the parks did in 1961. Turning Tiger Stadium into Yankee Stadium is quite a feat! I would recommend this movie to the die-hards, the casuals, and those who don't know anything about baseball. Billy Crystal -- Thank you for another great movie!

Great On Tough-To-Please Subject

[samkan · 7/10 · 30 December 2008]

I imagine the creators knew they were going to have to make some people unhappy when 61 was made. Any movie taking on what has become a personal subject to many is going to unavoidably disappoint a certain portion of its viewers. Even a flat rendering intending to take no sides, point of view, etc., will anger some whose point of view was not given prominence.

If not particularly daring, this film offers a nice throwback to melodramatic, episodic films of yesteryear; e.g., THE LOU GEHRIG STORY, the film about Dizzy Dean, etc. Nice touch to bookend 61 with Mark Maguire's breaking of Maris' record. The main emphasis on the overbearing, unfair media coverage was a little overdone. On the other hand, the special effects to create the older ballparks was terrific.

Never seen such a great job of matching actors to characters. James bears a strong resemblance to Mantle and Pepper is a dead ringer for Maris! Fun to watch if you've a son who know nothing of the 1961 chase when this viewer, indeed, remembers being told by adults that Mantle, not Maris, should break the record.

Perhaps best baseball movie ever

[Kakueke · 10/10 · 19 September 2001]

So superb was the job Billy Crystal did on this movie that it is the best baseball (even sports) film I have ever seen. Every detail is meticulously worked out, even more accurately, I believe, than in The Titanic (which, contrary to popular belief, had a few inaccuracies). And while a strong effort in getting look alikes can never completely pay off with so many people involved, how about Barry Pepper as Maris? (Of course, the most important person.)

Mickey Mantle's faults are brought out unrestrainedly by perhaps his No. 1 fan, and yet he still comes across in a positive light, as he should. Maris's problems with the press are also portrayed sympathetically, and yet so are members of the press, who are personalized and humanized and have their side also fairly presented. Particularly moving was the scene at the end where a press person who had been at odds with Maris is cheering him on to break the record. An ornamental portrayal of Pat Maris would of course not be tolerated, but Crystal makes an extra, very successful effort at making her an important part of the film with great character development and a thoughtful inclusion of her problems. In fact, I find it hard to think of another movie in which there is such an absence of plastic people. And in spite of the post-Ball Four attitudes about how athletes really are, this movie appears to be accurate in presenting Maris as a good Catholic (and relatively nonboozing) family man.

Yankee haters may not be into this film as much as Yankee lovers, but in any event it brilliantly captures the Yankee mystique (and dominance in this particular season) in the early 60s. Were they the apotheosis of the pre-Vietnam, All-American ideal? If you are one of those people whose main complaint about movies these days is more than specific factors, but the general lack of anything uplifting, see this movie. More in the modern vein than, say, Pride of the Yankees, but no less uplifting.

Fantastic, especially for Yankee fans

[Quinoa1984 · 7/10 · 22 July 2001]

61* is a movie both powerful and memorable, and while sometimes a little melodrama might get in the way in spots, through and through, 61* is an entertaining tale of Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris and they're race to see who would score the most amount of homeruns in the early 60's. However, the film contains more, including showing what the two giants of baseball were like off the field, and how they're celebrity effected them (for Maris it was scary, but Mantle knew how to handle it).

Huge Kudos to Crystal for his first soley directed drama and also kudos to Pepper and Jane who so acurately and awesomely portray the two leads it's excellent. Note- Yankee fans will most likely find a lot more in-jokes (Phil Rizzutto and Mel Allen as the announcer's and Ruth's ex-wife for example), but it is still watchable and reccomended for anybody looking for good movie-making. A-

61 in 61

[kurt_messick · 10/10 · 31 January 2006]

In the pantheon of baseball movies, this one, 61*, is in my personal top five, and perhaps the top three. Billy Crystal, better known as a comedian or as host of the Academy Awards, took the director's chair for this film, and produced a story that was a grand insight into the personal and professional world of baseball during the era of Mantle and Maris. Produced very shortly after Mark McGwire broke the Maris record, Crystal framed the 1961 story with scenes from the McGwire run.

Babe Ruth hit 60 home runs in the 1927 season, and Yankee stadium was still known, a generation later, as the house that Ruth built. In 1961, Ruth's longstanding record seemed secure. Mickey Mantle had inherited the status of 'Yankee favourite' from predecessors Joe DiMaggio, Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth, but Roger Maris had narrowly beat him in the poll for MVP the previous year, all the more remarkable because Maris was a newcomer from the midwest. The sportwriters were divided in how they reported about the team, but almost all were more focused upon Mantle until the runs began to stack up. However, the press (and often, it seemed, the fans) were still favouring Mantle, and sometimes booed Maris when he would hit a home run.

Crystal did a good job at showing the kind of personal stresses, both family and professional, that Mantle and Maris had to endure going through what should have been one of the most glorious seasons in baseball history. There was a kind of institutional resistance to anyone breaking Ruth's record, but even more resistance to Maris than to Mantle. This is embodied in the asterisk that followed the number 61 in record books (and the title of this film) - Ruth's season was several games shorter, and it was deemed 'unfair' for Maris to take the record, having not hit the same number of runs in the same number of games. Eventually the asterisk would be removed, but not before Maris' death some time later.

Good little touches like Maris' special eggs (which Mantle began to eat with reluctance, but came around when Maris said he hit home runs after eating them), scrap book collections shown periodically throughout the film, the song 'I love Mickey', and other audio-visual pieces of baseball memorabilia make this a baseball trivia-buff treat. The personal stories of the family lives, increasingly under stress as both players come within striking distance of the record, show details most likely fictional, but certainly understandable.

Barry Pepper and Thomas Jane star as Maris and Mantle, respectively, and both turn in great performances as the athletes. They both look like naturals on the field and in the locker room, and do a good job with the personal angle as well, Pepper playing the low-key Maris and Jane playing the hard-living Mantle. They both bear striking resemblance to the men they portray, Pepper especially so. Other performers include Anthony Michael Hall, Richard Masur, and Christopher McDonald in memorable supporting roles. Donald Moffat as the commissioner Frick is especially good. Jennifer Foley (actually, Jennifer Crystal Foley, Billy Crystal's daughter) turns in a good performance as Pat Maris, the long-suffering and supportive wife, struggling from half a country away to be strong for her husband as he faces the stress of success.

Any baseball fan will love this film. Those who aren't necessarily fans of baseball may find a new-found passion for the game.

The Yankee's retired Maris' number 9 in 1984. Maris' bat is in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Perhaps some day, Maris will be, too.

As Sentimental As They Come, But Still Engaging

[zkonedog · 7/10 · 21 March 2019]

The story of the Maris/Mantle home run chase of 1961 is steeped in baseball lore, from the Babe to the asterisk and everything in between. While director Billy Crystal doesn't unearth any new information or angles with "61*"-nor does he try-he does a good job of capturing the drama of that entire season and its meaningfulness in the baseball lexicon.

For a basic plot summary, "61*" tells the story of the 1961 baseball season, where Roger Maris (Barry Pepper) and Mickey Mantle (Thomas Jane) both challenged the decades-old single-season home run record that had been standing for decades (Babe Ruth's 60 homers in 1927). The film mainly focuses on the struggles of Maris, the North Dakota country boy who felt enormously pressured by the press, the fans, and perhaps even the specter of Ruth himself. While Mantle was everyone's darling and seemed the one destined to break records, it was ultimately Maris who was thrust into the spotlight he always so desperately avoided.

I think the main thing to keep in mind about "61*" is that it is very much a sentimental portrait of the events, players, and times. I'm sure a more nuanced, angled film on the topic could be made, but that wasn't Crystal's intention from the get-go. This is the type of movie that could have been filmed in gauzy tones and swelling scores (the latter of which occur frequently, come to think of it). It is Crystal basically telling this baseball story that is legendary to him, especially as a Yankees fan at heart. It practically drips with pizazz, mythos, and melodrama.

Of course, this isn't exactly a bad approach at the end of the day. It certainly leans into the clichés/legends, but it also gets enough of the story right to be considered accurate. The framing device of the McGwire/Sosa 1998 home run chase is a brilliant filmmaking stroke, albeit one that has not aged well after the steroid allegations of the years following it.

The acting also really stands out. Pepper is convincing as the tortured Maris, while Jane often steals the show as the enigmatic and legendary Mantle. The rest of the cast is also filled out by a who's who list of actors that'll make you say "I've seen him/her somewhere before!". In other words, many great character actors pepper the roll.

Overall, "61*" is a solid baseball tale made by an accomplished filmmaker (Crystal) who is also a legitimate baseball fan and thus can come off as authentic. It is over-dramatic and sentimental almost to a fault, but it gets the information it wants to convey across in an interesting and entertaining fashion. Depending on your ability to let the "ghosts of history" wash over you, "61*" may even garner a higher ranking.

Booooooooring...

[pistolpeet · 3/10 · 29 April 2001]

blah....sorry but I can't jump on the Billy Crystal Bandwagon and tell

everyone how great this movie was, because it wasn't really that

good.

Please someone find actors who can throw baseballs...I am sick

and tired of watching these types of baseball movies. At least

when Kevin Costner throws a baseball he looks like a ball player.

But oh well maybe my expectations were too high from seeing all

these great reviews.

City Slickers 3* anyone...anyone...anyone?

A Beautiful Friendship

[harbormoon · 13 December 2004]

First off, I'm a lifelong Boston Red Sox fan and thus not much of a Yankees fan. However, this may be one of the best baseball movies, if not one of the best sports films, ever made; even though baseball fans know how the story ends, your emotions will be stirred and you will find yourself rooting for these two players whether or not you have a preference for pinstripes.

Barry Pepper and Thomas Jane steal the show as Maris and Mantle, two Yankee teammates that form an alliance to help carry them through the turmolterous race to break the single-season home run record of Babe Ruth in 1961. While everyone from the press box to the peanut vendor appears to favor seeing the lovable Mick, even the commissioner of baseball seems to have an agenda against the misunderstood Maris. Trying to eclipse a mark of a legend against such adversity proves to be no easy task for either player, and the film does a great job of demonstrating the pressure that each player experienced from his own angle.

Director and noted Yankees fan Billy Crystal obviously put his heart and soul into directing and producing this masterpiece and deserves credit for putting an honest face on the race to the home run record between these two legends. Most impressive was how much care was taken to make the actors appear to step comfortably into the roles of each player; Jane and Pepper appear and act so much like "the M&M boys" that it's spooky. Being a passionate fan of the game probably puts a bias on this review but, even if you don't know the difference between a squeeze play and a double play, it's a great story about friendship and facing odds.

The Reluctant Hero

[Lin3223 · 10/10 · 21 August 2005]

Billy Crystal can be accused of presenting a heavily biased view of the Yankee summer of 1961, and his accusers would be right. Biased on the side of the truth, biased on the side of fairness to the characters, and biased on the side of historical integrity, "61" tells the story of one of the greatest seasons of all time for the New York Yankees--with admiration, with respect, and, above all, with a keen eye for how it really came down.

If you didn't witness first-hand the character assassination that plagued Roger Maris in his pursuit of Babe Ruth's home run record, "61" holds no resonance for you. You can't possibly understand what Maris went through that year just because his prowess for hitting home runs blossomed at record-breaking speed. You can't sympathize with him or the way he acted either. The more homers he hit, the more he was pursued, and the more he retreated. When Mickey Mantle tells Roger that he's the one making it hard on himself in his dealings with reporters--"I told you how to handle those guys. You don't want to listen."--it reveals the core of Maris' struggle with the press. Roger Maris was not a media darling--he shied away from the spotlight and he tried to protect himself and his family from the media circus that the 1961 season became for him. It was no contest, but he continued to fight for his privacy. He was just a guy doing his job and he wanted his privacy respected. It didn't help that he was threatening the greatest sports record of all time achieved by one of the most beloved sports figures in New York or anywhere. It didn't help that he was competing against another beloved and accomplished New York hero to break that record. This hick from North Dakota. What nerve. "Mickey should be the one to do it. He's a real Yankee." Many Yankee fans and baseball fanatics everywhere felt that way in the summer of 1961. Maris didn't deserve to be vilified because he wasn't the "proper" Yankee to break this record.

By now you must have surmised that I rooted for Roger Maris in the summer of 1961. That notwithstanding, all of what you see in "61" is true. There's no poetic license taken, no stretching of the truth for dramatic effect, no embellishments to make it a more interesting story (see "It Could Happen to You" and "Under the Tuscan Sun" for that). We can never know how close the relationship was between Mantle and Maris, but I trust Billy Crystal to have done his homework in his depiction of them as very good friends, not bitter rivals, as fabricated by the press. I trust Billy Crystal to have done his homework about every situation, every relationship, every line, and every detail in this movie. You can see that it was a labor of love for him. I thank him for setting the record straight where Roger Maris is concerned because it was about time.

If this movie doesn't pull at your heartstrings for any reason, then consider the irony of having gone through all that Maris did to break this record and have it noted in the record book that he did it in a longer season and the final irony of having that decision reversed after his death. "Roger Maris died 6 years earlier, never knowing that the record belonged to him." Maris died of cancer at the very young age of 51. He didn't deserve that either.

This is a great film even for the non baseball fan

[claes-bertilson · 8/10 · 2 January 2006]

Even for the only occasional baseball fan in Europe (i.e. myself) this film gives you excitement about the game the game of baseball, feeling for some of its greatest stars and hits home just how big the sport is across the pond. And it really brings home how much director/producer Billy Crystal loves the game.

The strength, however, really rest in the performance of Billy Pepper and Thomas Jane who portray the friendship, rivalry and respect between two great players.

I was glued to the screen from moment one would suggest that this is one of the strongest sports films ever made.

Interesting, entertaining and educational

[grantss · 7/10 · 11 June 2022]

1961. Two New York Yankees batters, Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris, are chasing Babe Ruth's single-season record of 60 home runs. The two couldn't be more different - Maris quiet and reserved and relative newcomer to the Yankees, Mantle larger-than-life and hedonistic and a lifetime Yankee. The closer they get to the record, the more the pressure builds.

Interesting, entertaining and educational docu-drama. The story of Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris's race to break Babe Ruth's record is an interesting story and one certainly worth telling. Director Billy Crystal and writer Hank Steinberg do a very good job at bringing that story to life. It helps that Crystal is from New York and lifelong Yankees fan: his love of baseball shines through in the film.

Solid performances from Barry Pepper (as Maris) and Thomas Jane (as Mantle) in the lead roles. Decent supporting cast.

One of the best baseball movies ever

[davidkwe · 10/10 · 26 December 2005]

I enjoyed every aspect of 61* from the wonderful character studies and contrasts to the game recreations to how well old Tiger Stadium was made to pinch hit for Yankee Stadium. I didn't know this ahead but it was done so credibly that when the end credits said Yankee Stadium had been played by Tiger Stadium I thought "What? How'd they ever manage that?" The "Making of" explained--it's almost as much a must-see as the film itself.

It took a huge fan like Billy Crystal to make this film and I'm very glad he did. Barry Pepper as Maris and Thomas Jane as Mantle both did great work and even bore close resemblances.

If you like baseball you'll love this film, and the "Making Of" DVD feature later.

Big Budget TV movie

[film101 · 7/10 · 1 May 2001]

With some anticipation I watched the debut of 61* this weekend on HBO. Admittedly, the production value was quite high, especially for a cable movie. However, the plot felt like a television movie.

Maris hits a homerun, Maris gets criticized in the newspapers and the pressure gets to him. That sequence of events was played, and replayed in the film for the majority of it's running time which made the film painfully predictable and lifeless. Crystal definately knew what the feel of the ballpark should be, and visualized it very well, but where is the artistry in his direction? One example: Towards the end of the film, Maris is staying at the St. Moritz with his wife, it's the last homestand of the season for the Yankee's, and he is describing to his wife the minute difference in hitting a pop fly and hitting a homerun. To me, this was one of the most interesting passages of dialogue in the film. Wouldn't it had been nice to watch Maris at bat, as he describes in VO how it is simply a matter of inches between fouling a ball off, hitting a pop fly, and smashing a home run.

The ending of the film was the most frustrating part because there were so many holes left in the plot. For one, it is never really explained to the audience why it is such a cathartic experience for Maris's wife to watch Mark McGwire break the homerun record. Why does this make her cry? And there is no VO or text about how the Yankee's did in the postseason that year. Mantle was in the hospital, so it would have been up to Maris to lead them in the postseason. Did they make it to the World Series? Did they win? How did Maris do? Did he lead the team to victory? If you're going to spend part of the movie talking about how close the divisional race was between the Yankees and the Tigers you have to at least tell us how the Yankee's finished the season. This is never explained. It is also never said that Maris has yet to be elected to the Hall of Fame. (6 out of 10)

The Man from Fargo

[sol-kay · 10/10 · 10 July 2013]

The film 61* chronicles the amazing, that's a year before the Amazin' NY Mets came into existence, 1961 baseball season with New York Yankees slugging outfielders Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris, Thomas Jane & Barry Pepper, chasing Babe Ruth's ghost and 60 home run record. The film begins and ends in September 1998 with a tearful Pat Maris, Pat Crowley, watching her late husband Roger's home run record being broken by Saint Louis Cardinals Mark McGuire slamming his 62th home run into the right field stands in Bush Stadium. It's between those two scenes we get to see the home run race between Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris that electrified the sports world some 37 years earlier. And how the media fans and a good number of sportswriters made Roger Maris' life a living hell for daring and succeeding despite Commissoner Ford Frick's (Donald Moffet) attempt to derail, with that idiotic *asterick rule, his breaking Babe Ruth's home run record.

It was late in the 1961 season when Maris started to pull ahead of his teammate Mickey Mantle in the home run race that the pressure really started to get turned on the Man From Fargo North Dakota in an effort to prevent him from breaking Babe Ruth's home run record that was considered by many, especially Commission Frick, a crime against the game of baseball. The fact that Maris was on his way of breaking Ruth's record had the press, or most of it, work overtime to discredit him in making it look that he's not worthy to break the great "Babe's" record that has stood for the last 34 years. The media even went as far as making up false stories about him that had Maris refuse to give interviews in fear that he's words would be taken out of contact, like they were, and make him sound like a spoiled and unfeeling person. It in fact was teammate Mickey Mantle who was Maris' biggest supporter knowing what he was going through on the field, where in one cases he has a chair thrown on him, and at home where his wife Pat got phone calls that threatened to kidnap and even kills her children if her husband broke "the Babe's" holy and untouchable home run record.

Despite all the threats attacks and insults on him and is family Maris on October 1, 1961 the last day on the season belted #61 into the right field stands off Boston Red Sox pitcher Tracy Stallard in Yankee Stadium and this time with him rounding the bases there was not a single boo or cat call among the some 23,000 fans present. Maris finally had earned the respect of the fans and sport-writers that was denied him that entire season. And as for the *asterick put on his home run record that was finally taken off on a ruling of the then Baseball Commissar Faye Vincent in 1991 but sadly Roger Maris wasn't there to see it. He passed away six years earlier on December 14, 1985 at the age of 51.

If you check out Roger Maris' as a person not baseball player he was without a doubt the most decent man you would have wanted to be Baseball's home run king. Quite unassuming a wonderful husband and loving father and family man he was the stuff that hero's are made of and on top of all that he never made a big deal off the unattainable record that he set. Maris even refused to receive the #61 home run ball that he hit that was valued at $5,000.00 given to him by the fan, Sal Durante, who caught it and offered it too him instead. With Maris telling Sal to keep the ball and make some money off it.

P.S Roger Maris' home run record is still considered the most legitimate by practically everyone who follows baseball from the baseball commissioner on down to the fan in the stand or those watching "America's Pastime" on TV. It's since been broken by Mark McGuire Sammy Sosa & Bobby Bond but none of the trio will ever be honored in breaking it or even being voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Unlike Roger Maris they needed performance enhancing drugs or steroids to get the job done. Where as for Roger Maris did it not only with his hitting talent but also sheer determination and guts as well.

only a 2 base hit, with the bases empty

[jaybob · 7/10 · 1 May 2001]

I am an ex-New Yorker born & lived not far from Yankee Stadium. I saw all the greats . Babe Ruth was my boyhood Idol & I had the pleasure of meeting him & Mel Allen way back when I was 13 yrs old. Thats history 61* is a film about Roger Maris & Mickey Mantle run for The Babes record of 60 home runs

Billy Crystal does a fine job of direction & Thomas Jane & Barry Pepper are superb as Maris & Mantle, BUT the Teleplay reeks of it being made for Television. Its very sophmoric sentimentality & cliches by the dozen. with a music score, that does not capture the period. Most of the other actors do the best they can. As I said earlier I Knew Mel Allen & Christopher Mc Donald DID NOT convince me it was Mel.

overall it was a long 128 minutes.

my rating is a 7,only a 2 base hit not a home run

as always

jay harris

Must see

[jim_p1953 · 10/10 · 22 July 2008]

As others who have posted comments about "61*", I too am not a Yankee fan. I read a book several years ago called "Dynasty - When Rooting For The Yankess Was Like Rooting for US Steel". It was a great book, but didn't exactly leave you with a warm and fuzzy feeling about the team from the Bronx. Billy Crystal's movie, however, left me blinking back tears. It is nothing less than a love story to two men and a team that is truly legendary in a sport where the term "legend" is too easily used. And he showed Maris and Mantle as real people, warts and all. Barry Pepper and Thomas Jane were brilliant as the M&M Boys and Billy Crystal takes us back in time by giving attention to the tiniest detail. An aging Tiger Stadium was magically transformed into "The House That Ruth Built", monuments and all.

I grew up rooting for the Cleveland Indians, not an easy task. Back then, as now, the Yankees were our hated rivals, but even so there wasn't a kid I knew who wouldn't have given everything to be Micky Mantle. Despite his greatness playing for a team that could beat my local heroes more often than not, The Mick was one of those greats that just transcended partisan sports. It was easy to see why nearly everyone was rooting for him to break the Babe's record, and not Roger Maris. Billy Crystal, truly one who worshiped Mantle, makes Maris's ordeal seem almost mythic, but from all I have read, he exaggerated very little.

"61*" is possibly the greatest baseball movie ever made, and that's saying something. Watch it and relive what may be baseball's greatest season.

It's just a record or is it?

[professorjeffreypbrown · 7/10 · 4 February 2021]

On the surface, this movie appears to be about baseball. But what it's really about is the tribalism of human nature and how petty and simple minded people can be about broken records of grown men playing a child's game. The amount of pressure put on Marris to break or, better yet, not break the record was the most abhorrent aspect of the film. That fans threatend him and his family was sickening: the boos, the harrassment, the potential violence. Nothing has changed today, just the players and conditions. I've seen players lives threatened because they've missed an important shot or didn't get the hit or make the play in a playoff game. It's really sickening to see how seriously people take a game, one which means so very little in the overall scheme of things.

History book

[mrwnrfl · 4/10 · 30 April 2001]

Like a children's history lesson. Nothing worse than redundant dialogue that has to set the scene to save time. Two Yogi-isms in the first scene and then we don't hear from him again. Sort of like name dropping. Never been a Yankee fan and the depiction of the boorish Yankee fans and team have sealed their fate.