The Babe (1992)

I'm a sucker for corny old movies, especially when they involve baseball. My only problem here, was that Babe Ruth was not obese when he began his career with the Red Sox. He was barrel chested and strong as an ox and didn't gain all that weight until the end of the '20's, beginning of the '30's! They make him look like a hot dog eating pig as a young man. Remember, this young man hit more home runs in 1920, than any other TEAM in the American League!

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 occurred, 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.

I hate going through the process of signing up and jumping through all the hoops just to get to write a review, but when I read that John Goodman was "disappointed" in his performance in this movie, I HAD to write a review. I really thought that I would have a hard time believing Mr. Goodman in his portrayal of Babe because I have watched him for years as Dan Conner. However, within the first 2 minutes of his appearance in the movie, I forgot completely about Dan Conner and I was caught up in his real, and emotional portrayal of The Babe. I thought the movie was wonderful - and I can't imagine anyone other than Mr. Goodman playing The Babe. I hope that throughout the years, Mr. Goodman has changed his mind about being disappointed and that he now sees as how wonderful he was!

This movie is just a shame. There are a lot of people who think Ruth is the greatest player of all time and were just waiting for a decent biographical movie to come out about the Babe. This was just a let down. Tons of factual errors, bad choice of actor, you name it.Ruth was definitely heavy but listed at 6'2" and 220lbs. Some say maybe 250lbs later, but Goodman is much heavier and not very athletic looking. Ruth stole home 10 times in his career, he ran well for a big man. Maybe more like a Prince Fielder type of guy. He did so many awesome feats, why lie and embellish them? This movie rarely made mention to his pitching prowess which got him his start in Boston. He did not hit many home runs early on. He did not hit any in his last game which was in Phila. five days after the 3 homer game in Pitts. Little Johnny did not return the ball he signed, in fact it was auctioned several years ago. He did not hit an infield home run. In 1927 Gehrig did not have 14 home runs before Ruth hit his first! In fact when Gehrig had 14 Ruth had 18! I could go on and on with errors. Why not just get it right? The guy was still a legend!