the audience applauded

Powerful

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

The Curse of the Bambino (2003)*** 1/2 (out of 4) Funny documentary about whether or not the Boston Red Sox's troubles are really due to a curse put on the team by Babe Ruth when the owner sold him to the New York Yankees. One interesting thing is that after the trade the Yankees would go onto win twenty-six championships while the Red Sox would just have one major collapse after another (up to the time this documentary was made). Fans of the Red Sox will probably be in tears watching this documentary but at the same time there's a level of comedy that runs throughout the thing. Various Boston writers, famous fans and regular fans are interviewed about their thoughts on various slumps that has happened over eight decades including the collapses in 1978 and the legendary on in 1986 against the Mets. People like Steven Wright, Michael Chiklis, Denis Leary, Jeffrey Lyons, Leigh Montville, Robert Creamer (Babe Ruth biographer) and Peter Casey are interviewed and share their opinions on the subject. Casey even managed to see Babe Ruth play so his comments are especially interesting. Overall this is a very entertaining documentary taking a look at the various problems that have hit the Red Sox over the years and it tries to show both sides of the coin in regards to the curse. We get "proof" that it exists but we're also given several reasons that show the problem isn't a curse but the organization itself. This includes the various race problems that haunted the team including the fact that they turned down Jackie Robinson and Willie Mayes. There's also talk about other factors that could have played into the various problems. It's certainly fun hearing from the fans and especially as they recall that 1986 World Series game six.

If you liked the documentary, I suggest that you read the book by Dan Shaughnessy from which it is based. There is a lot more detail to the history of the Red Sox than what was depicted. Red Sox fans have been lead to believe that former owner Harry Frazee sold Babe Ruth to the Yankees simply to put on a Broadway musical. Although Ruth was a great player, he was not a team player. He was difficult and often abandoned the team to pursue his own interests. Frazee did not want to sell Ruth, but did not want a "one-man" team, which he saw the Red Sox turning into. This transaction changed the fortunes of two teams as the Yankees, who had never won anything before 1919, became contenders and champions almost overnight, while the Red Sox became forgettable. There is more to the Red Sox inability to win a championship than the sale of Babe Ruth. For example, the Red Sox had the opportunity to become the pioneers of integration when in 1945, Jackie Robinson and several other negro league players went to Fenway Park for a tryout and were soundly rejected. A few years later, Willie Mays was also rejected. In fact, the Red Sox did not have a black player until 1959. The hesitance of former owner Tom Yawkey to sign black players may have contributed to the Red Sox championship drought, as well as the fans obsession with the Yankees. Each chapter of the book covers various periods of Red Sox history, including the 4 World Series lost in 7 games and the strange occurrences in between, as well as the rivalry with the Yankees. I recommend the book to all baseball fans so that fact can be separated from hearsay.

I caught this doc the other day on HBO, and I haven't laughed so hard in a long time. As a life-long Yankee fan, it gave me all the incentive I need to look forward to another season where the BoSox don't measure up. The best part of this film to me, tho, was the segment on the '86 World Series (the Buckner debacle) Watching 4-5 guys repeating Vin Scully's commentary word for word as the ball rolled haplessly thru Buckner's legs almost made me feel sorry for them. Also great was the shot of Carl Yazstremski sinking to his knees as Bucky Dent's ball sailed over the Green Monster.Keep hoping, Boston!!!

There is no curse.HBO spent an hour documenting something that doesn't exist, and they didn't even do a very good job of it. The Boston Red Sox have a long, colorful history, and it's true that part of the story is their inability to win a championship for nearly 90 years despite getting agonizingly close about once a generation. But that's only part of the story. 86 years since 1918 and the best HBO can come up with is "The Curse"? There's so much more than that to this team. If HBO wanted to make a documentary about the Boston Red Sox, there really was the potential for a meaningful examination of a historic club that has a very special bond with its fans all across New England.Instead, we get an hour of sob stories set to depressing background music. I'm sure Affleck did this for a laugh, but he sounds like a fool narrating this nonsense. It's not even an accurate representation of the fans. One has to wonder how many hours of interviews they left on the cutting room floor, with most fans probably acknowledging that the team's had some bad breaks but that it just makes one anticipate the following season even more. Few Sox fans would say that Dan Shaughnessy speaks for them.And even fewer believe in a curse.