The Babe

Starring: John Goodman, Kelly McGillis, & Trini Alvarado

Rating: 2 out of 5 stars

As a life long Yankees fan, I have read a lot about, and admired Babe Ruth, since I was very young, but I never saw the film based on his life. I heard nothing but bad things about it, and as it turns out, my fellow critics were correct. The Babe is supposed to be a bio-pic from the birth of Babe Ruth, until his untimely death, however the focus of the film is a problem. Film makers portrayed Ruth as an ignorant man-child, a drunk, and an emotionally abuse husband and father. At times, he may have been all of those things, but they were merely a small part of his overall story. Little, if anything is mentioned about Ruth's infections personality, his generosity, or his activities off the field, besides his drinking. Ruth is portrayed as a man who gained fame, simply because of his ability to hit home runs, in a way that insinuates, he was lucky and didn't deserve all the fame and attention he received. The portrayal of the Babe isn't the only problem with this film, as the timeline and historic accuracy aren't even close to the truth. They show Ruth more with the Red Sox than the Yankees, insist that the majority of his fame came in Boston, and finally, they show his big seasons much later than they actually occured, and even go as far as to insulate, that they were in response to the media saying he was done. John Goodman stars as the Babe and he does a spot on portrayal, from the voice to the mannerisms, he was very very good, but it's overlooked by a film that stretched the truth to the point of being insulting to Ruth fans. The only thing I really enjoyed about this film, besides Goodman's performance, was a series of short films Ruth did with some orphans in the 1920's, that were included on the DVD. These shorts were much better and painted a much more accurate picture of the man, than this film ever did. The Babe is worth seeing for the performance of John Goodman, but be warned, it's a bio-pic that is more fiction than truth.