Game 6 (2005) Reviews

• I'm game for Game 6

  wrlang2006-07-22

  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.

  More

• Lots of Fun !

  jhilley2006-02-21

  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.

  More

• A playwright/baseball fan panics as he finds out a critic(Robert Downey Jr.) is always out for blood

  dparise-12005-01-26

  I saw Game 6 at its Sundance premiere last Saturday. Michael Keaton ,Griffin Dunne along with Michael Hoffman and a lot of the crew were all there. It was in a great high school theater with q&a after the film (Michael Keaton was telling story after story). The film itself was fabulous. Michael Keaton is such a believable actor. He is so funny even when not trying to be. The story line was great also. I didn't know much going in and was pleasantly surprised to find it was actually a comedy. When I found out it was shot in 20 days and under 500,000 I was shocked. Welldone!!!! I rate it 9 out of 10.

  More

• Incredibly Well Done

  Howardr6752006-03-05

  I saw this movie with about 300 people as a screening for a film class. About 1/2 the audience did not like it and the other 1/2 did. Many saw it as a baseball movie. I saw it as a movie about fear of failure and the expectation of failure in life by many. I felt that the script relating the expectations of the Boston Red Sox fans who feel the curse and expect to lose was incredibly written to parallel how this can relate to the way a person visualizes his life and dreams (real or imagined). The script was brilliant, the acting was extraordinary. I don't know that this will work commercially but I was moved by this movie more than any movie I have seen in a long time. Too me, this was not a baseball movie, this was a brilliant look into the the mind of more people than we would like to believe.

  More

• It's a Ballgame

  baho-12005-01-31

  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.

  More