Game 6

Really enjoyed this "New York" film ... Keaton and Downey were great ... good music... craziness all around ... Bebe Neuworth was completely over the top. Super New York City shots recreating the grit and graffiti of '86 that have pretty much disappeared. One of the best features is the background monologue by a fictitious radio announcer that is heard throughout... great language... DeLillo! Also the moments of the game interspersed with the ongoing narrative were well done. I'm not a big baseball fan and wasn't much aware of the 1986 series (even though I live in New York) but I found the game sequences fun and exciting. Saw this at a pre-screening (opening March 10 in NYC)with a Q&A afterward and was amazed at the LOW cost to make the film. The producer (who also produced After Hours )indicated that most people worked for practically nothing... It isn't a 'perfect' film but I would highly recommend it as a totally entertaining two hours.

Any good baseball fan will tell you exactly where he was during the sixth game of the 1986 World Series when Mookie Wilson's ground ball rolled through Red Sox first baseman Bill Buckner's legs. The infamous error gave the Mets a dramatic come-from-behind victory in the game and ultimately the Series. Director Michael Hoffman and producer Amy Chamberlain made a movie around the event, which loses little of its luster after the Red Sox improbable World Series win this past October.

Michael Keaton stars as a successful playwright and lifelong Red Sox fan whose opening night of his latest Broadway play coincides with the fateful Game 6. These events serve as a catalyst for the exploration of love, marriage, sex, parenthood, friendship, hope, despair, values and much more. Of note, Keaton was one of the most entertaining stars I have ever seen at a Sundance Q&A.

Although it drags in parts, the movie has a lot of heart. Keaton, along with Griffin Dunne and Robert Downey Jr., provide fine performances that bring the script to life. This will be a must-see for everyone in Beantown, as well as all those perennially cursed Sox fans nationwide who found meaning in their collective suffering for so many years. My wife couldn't see what all the fuss was about; but I understood it perfectly.

I wasn't at any of the 1986 World Series games. But I vividly remember listening to Game 6 on the radio, and having to stop and collect myself after the Buckner error. (I've always liked underdogs, so the Sox are a perfect match for my affections.) I did, however, attend the nearly as legendary Game 5 of the American League Champion Series that year. The Red Sox were down 3-1 in the series, but battled back to beat the Angels at Anaheim with a dramatic ninth-inning two-out home run by Dave Henderson, who had been brought in as a defensive replacement. The Sox went on to win the AL Championship and meet the Mets in the Series.

Gene Mauch, the Angel's manager, was widely regarded as one of the best in baseball. But he'd never been to a World Series. He was one out away in 1986, but fate called the score. He retired in 1987 and went to his grave having managed 26 years and 3942 games without ever reaching the October Classic. The pitcher who gave up Henderson's homer was Donnie Moore, a 20-save reliever that year. Moore was never the same after that fateful at-bat. He retired shortly afterward, drifted into alcoholism and committed suicide in 1989.

Nearly 20 years later, I can recite these details with clarity and emotion. For those of us that grew up on baseball, it was never just a game. These events hold special meaning in our lives. When you understand that, you know that Game 6 is more than a movie. It is a homage to seasons that end in despair, but never fail to start again with hope. Such is life.

I think it would be fair to call this a cult film to some degree. It really will work best for a certain audience. If you like quirky films and baseball, this is something you'll almost definitely enjoy. Keaton is great and the writing is certainly somewhat unique and interesting. I appreciate this film a good bit. It has a fresh sort of feel to it because it is quite an unusual mix of art, baseball and life all framed in a pretty offbeat way. If it sounds interesting to you, don't miss it!

7/10.

Based on a true story, a dark and heavily emotional drama about a playwrite Nicky in 1986 NY who loves the Red Sox so much, he skips the opening night of his play to see game 6 of the 1986 world series between the Mets and the Sox. Nicky has a series of conversations with a myriad of people he knows and meets in the days leading up to game 6. They all help Nicky deal with life's stresses consisting of a particularly nasty Broadway critic who has nothing good to say about anyone and kills the careers of anyone unfortunate enough to fall under his poison pen. His impending divorce over his long affair. A major actor that is forgetting his lines due to a parasitic illness. The beginning of his estrangement of his daughter over the divorce and his neglect of their relationship. The excellent acting envelopes you as the slow and deliberate plot plays out. If quality of acting is important to you, you should see this movie.

I saw the film at the festival too.

And I have to strongly disagree.

I was moved and compelled to watch Combining real and fictional events, Game 6 centers around the historic 1986 World Series and a day in the life of a playwright who skips opening night to watch the momentous game.

Keaton and Downey were brilliant.

Always great watching these two fantastic artists.

I give it my two thumbs up.

The reason you probably found it boring is because you were asleep.