61* (Widescreen)

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

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 focussed 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.


This movie was a lot like baseball-slow and going nowhere   June 30, 2004
Nick Rocco (New York)
0 out of 2 found this review helpful

This movie is just like baseball...you sit in a seat for hours watching an incredibly slow game while you drift off to sleep. Sorry all you baseball fans...but I'm a football fan and I need action to sustain life when I'm sitting in a small stadium seat for numerous hours. You have to hand it to Barry Pepper, who plays Marris quite well. I thought that he had hit an all-time low when he played the ape-like human with dred locks in "Battlefield Earth". Back to *61. What is the deal with the asterik? Is that the most interesting thing that a baseball columnist can think of? But with respect for Marris for breaking the Babe's record, I have to give the film two stars, cause if I gave it one you'd all probably find me and beat me with his signed baseball bat.


Region 1 Encoding   June 8, 2004
Kevin Caldwell (Greenock, Scotland)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful

Just a quick note about the Region encoding for this DVD for UK customers. This DVD WILL work on the PAL PS2 when used with a product called "DVD Region X" (about 10). Just make sure your TV can display 60Hz. 50Hz TVs will play the movie in black and white.


61*   May 9, 2004
Mark (Cinci Bengals Ohio United States)
This is now one of my favorite baseball movies of all time. I had never seen this movie until I purchased it on amazon. First, it is needed to say that I hate the Yankees. Even with my bias view of the team, this is the first (and last) time I will ever pull for the yankees. The bottom line is simply that this is an enjoyable movie for both baseball fans and those who do not follow the game.


Perfect   April 4, 2004
RJ Bates (Denton, TX)
I absolutely love this movie because of its perfect portrayal of the story of Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle chasing Babe Ruth's homerun record. Billy Crystal directed this film and made every aspect of the story be exactly the same to the true story. Thomas Jane plays an unbelievable role as Mickey Mantle and makes this movie one of the best ever made. I recommend this film to any fan of baseball or movies.