Film: "The Babe" (1992).
John Goodman, in his first starring role, does a convincing job of portraying
baseball legend George "Babe" Ruth. This isn't an easy thing to do. Babe Ruth was
an American institution, and everybody has their own idea of what he was really
like.
The movie starts out in 1910 with George's father dropping him off at a
Catholic orphanage where he discovers baseball, his rise to stardom in
professional baseball in the 1920s and 30s, and his eventual decline in the
1940s. The Babe depicts Babe Ruth as a generous, happy-go-lucky,
life-of-the-party type person, but it also shows Babe Ruth cheating on his
wife, drunkenness, and his fits of rage. Babe Ruth was a complex, insecure
person, and The Babe tells his story in a kind, larger-than-life,
entertaining way. I liked it very much.
"The film would never have been made if not for John [Goodman]. If we were
doing a movie about, let's say, Ty Cobb, you'd say, 'Let's go find some actors
who could play Ty Cobb.' But when you're doing Babe Ruth, you've got to start
with a guy who can convince people he's Babe Ruth... there might not be two
actors in all of movies who can do that." - Bill Finnegan, one of
The Babe's executive producers. Quoted from Allen Barra's article in
Entertainment Weekly, May 1, 1992.
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