Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great, Quirky Movie, June 2, 2006
This is the kind of movie I used to enjoy seeing a couple of times a year and now see, oh, about once every 10 years or so. An incredibly interesting, odd, provocative movie, that doesn't insult its audience. The acting is phenomenal, the script is really interesting, and the characters are not people you've seen 1000 times before. Although it's sort of about baseball, it's not a baseball movie. It's a pity that so few people want to see interesting movies like this. I loved this movie.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
amazing performances, March 14, 2006
I recently attended the premiere in New York City of Game 6 and was frankly surpised and amazed by what I saw. To me, Micheal Keaton is Batman, Bebe Neuwirth was Lilith, Robert Downey Jr., is well, Robert Downey Jr. What I watched was an amazing story from the master story teller, Don DeLillo, that was full of character, sub plots and great dialog. Keaton, as Ebert and Rober said, gave the first Oscar worthy performance of 2006. His character is torn between his passion for his play that tells the story of his family which opens that evening and watching his beloved Red Soxs in the sixth game of the World Series.
This is not a baseball film, nor is it a theater film. This is a film about people. For anyone that wants to see strong performances deliver great lines under wonderful direction from Michael Hoffman, I highly recommend this film.
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9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Game 6: The $500,000 movie - Four strikes, you are out. OUT!, August 10, 2006
Upon the brief trailers and DVD cover that gave me the visuals of this show, I thought I would really enjoy it. It was set 20 years ago during the famous world series made infamous by a single error that ended up keeping the curse alive and putting into motion (later in the series) the Mets (Led by such greats as Lenny Dykstra and Daryl Strawberry) beating the Red Sox (Roger Clemens, Wade Boggs, to name a few) in that world series. The error goes down as one of the most famous in all of sports. That, however, is in the foreground, much like the Yankee's world series was (led by Reggie Jackson's heroic and never ending home run hits) in the movie "Son of Sam" serial killing spree of Sam Berkowitz in NYC in the 1970's.
At first glance, I thought there was going to be a series of dramatic events that lead up to a climatic conclusion, all the way down to the end when Bill Buckner misses the easy grounder to first base. What we end up getting is one of those movies that tries to execute a series of characters and events in their lives, tie it all together, and have some meaning come out of it. The result is what I should have expected from a movie whose budget is a tenth of what some players make nowadays: Dull, Boring, spinning wheels that get stuck, continue to spin, and lead nowhere. There is nothing poignant, profound, or purposeful with the script of this movie, and if there is, I guess I was to wrapped up in watching the Red Sox let another one slip away. First off, we have a decent cast to say the least: Michael Keaton, Robert Downey Jr., and Catherine O'hara (Home Alone fame) are all actors who have shined in the past and though aren't so much of household names anymore, can still carry their craft to the greatest of limits.
The problem is not them. The problem is the script! Michael Keaton is a man about to go through a divorce. His daughter is busier turning the volume up on her walkman (remember, this is 1986, not 2006) and he's seeing a lot of things unravel before his eyes. It doesn't seem to bother him much though, as the character Keaton plays (Nicky Rogan) is a famous playwright in the Big Apple who seems more interested visiting with multiple cab drivers in a day than anything else. The camera is always showing the cabbies ID cards on the dash to make sure we know that they are from the Middle East. STRIKE ONE: This little display doesn't seem to get anything across that has any purpose or direction with the film, and seems not only unnecessary, but also ultimately ANNOYING after about the fourth cab ride. Rogan is about to have a personal drama performed and he's not sure how it's going to be perceived by the masses. STRIKE TWO: Despite all the things outside Rogan saying he's supposed to be worried, scared, or bothered, he doesn't really come across that way. If anything this character acts more like a fake puppet than a man with any emotion, feeling, or personality. He is supposed to be nervous because critic Stephen Schwimmer (Downey Jr.) is going to be the major reviewer of his new play. Schwimmer himself received a bad review or something and is now some sort of Syd Barret (see: Pink Floyd founder/drugs/gone crazy supposedly/left band/becomes artistic recluse) in his apartment and seems to spend most of his time just staring at walls and acting like he's had a lobotomy with a drill that has a low battery. STRIKE THREE: This entire subplot never takes off and despite bringing this character into the foreground, including a standoff with Rogan in Schwimmer's apartment with Rogan's teen daughter half naked on the couch, it just doesn't fly. By this time in the movie I'm saying I don't really care.
I'm going to give them one more chance at bat...STRIKE FOUR!: At one point in the movie, Rogan is told he should carry a gun for safety. Okay I'm thinking there will be some Bernard Goetz (see: Bernard Goetz/weird engineer/NY resident/4 would be robbers on subway/Goetz shoots them/becomes cult icon/hero/crazy dude for self defense and gun ownership) type situation brewing. The gun is fired off in Schwimmer's apartment a few times but nobody gets hurt (thankfully, I mean I didn't REALLY want anyone to get hurt). After that (I'll call a BALL ONE! here) Schwimmer and Rogan sit down and start talking because they realize they have something in common that is a stronger bond than most realize: They both are Boston natives, and HUGE Red Sox fans. Rogan's mistress, who happens to be funding his new play, and Rogan's father, who is in ailing health and Rogan visits now and again, make Guest appearances. There are a few bright spots in the movie when things like the already mentioned Red Sox bond come into play, but ultimately this thing is over by the fourth inning. Sure, the fat lady isn't singing yet, but like they said in the special features part of the DVD; The world series wasn't technically over for the Sox in that game, as the loss forced it to game seven in which the Mets ultimately won, but it didn't matter. Every fan knew it was a done deal, despite the hope.
In the end Rogan skips his plays debut and ends up offering the cab driver that happens to have her grandson with her (nope, this time its actually someone not from the middle east) to go to a bar and watch the game. The actual footage of the game was fun to watch for this sports fan, though I still feel bad for Buckner, and all the BOSOX fans, when that ball went through his glove and the Mets scored the winning run as a result.
Special Features: In trying to be objective to my own criticism of this film, I learned that there were basically two ideas (1986 world series & Playwright vs. Critic showdown) that were eventually melded into one. Although its not a total loss considering the movie did surprisingly only cost half a million dollars to film, its not a gain at all because the script in regard to the playwright vs. critic storyline is way to loose. It never really comes across strong and again, with the exception of the BOSOX tie between the two men, the journey to get there is filled with eccentric drivel and boring dialogue that don't hold up well at all. I understand its an "unconventional film" but that does not excuse it from having a weak script and scenes that are made epic but ultimately deliver nothing of substance in the film. In the end, this sports fan was pleased with the different people involved with the film telling where they were and how they felt when Buckner missed that ball. It's to bad that kind of passion was not put into a stronger script that helped tie the themes and overall storyline together better.
Oh yeah, I gave it an extra "strike", and its still here. Sorry, you are outta here! Game OVER! See you on the "Field of Dreams" someday in rerun land.
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