It Ain’t Over Review – A Tribute to Baseball’s Best

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Category: Indies, Docs, Foreign Film

Published on Tuesday, 09 May 2023 12:59

Written by Janet Walker

It Ain't Over, from Sony Pictures Classics, brings to the screen the story of the most underrated and yet most accomplished baseball player in the history of the game Yogi Berra, a beloved American hero.

The documentary begins with Berra's granddaughter, Lindsay, who calls the play by play throughout the documentary, explaining how the documentary became an idea. She explains as she is sitting with Yogi watching the 2015 All-Star Game and the pre-game feature included the four greatest living baseball players: Hank Aaron, Johnny Bench, Willie Mays, and Sandy Koufax. What?

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She continues to explain as she is watching the game with Yogi Berra, who, as we find out, is an 18 time All-Star, has 10, count them, ten world series rings, is a 3-time MVP, and is considered the best catcher of all time, bar none, that she turns to her grandfather and asks him if he is dead to which he replies, "Not yet."

Where this egregious disregard leads to is the story of an Italian Immigrant, raised in St. Louis, in The Hill neighborhood, like New York City's Little Italy, The Hill was predominantly Italian Immigrants, and some would say reared more world series champions than anywhere else in the United States.

Born in 1925, Berra would spend his days playing baseball in an empty lot across the street with another famous baseball player Joe Garagiola. Through what is known as the golden era of Baseball, Berra was a Bronx Bomber that carried his team, and considered the lynchpin, during crucial changes that kept that historic team winning.

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Throughout the documentary the audience is introduced to a person rather than a persona. Yes, Yogi Berra is a ten-time World Series champion, and everything that those accomplishments still hold. But we find as we travel through the documentary, he is more than the sum of his accomplishments.

A genuine kind man, as those who knew Berra are interviewed and offer their insight on Berra the man, we understand the many of the reasons he was underrated, underestimated, and overlooked. He was a nice guy who chose right over right now; refused to take short cuts and even tolerated the caricatures that demeaned his appearance.

He was an Italian immigrant, a World War II D-Day invasion veteran, underestimated his whole life, fought adversity, poverty, his ethnic heritage identified with him as an athlete. Yogi, as we find out, never lived his celebrity status, he married, loved his wife, loved his family, and when trouble arrived, he presented a tough love ultimatum to his son, and fought back against the trouble that tried again to derail him and now his family.

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Yet for many observers of the national pastime, his prolific accomplishments on the ballfield were overshadowed by his extraordinarily appealing personality. Long before athletes endorsing products became commonplace, Yogi was starring in TV commercials and connecting with fans from every demographic.

An influencer before the term had found its place in mainstream society, Yogi Berra whose smart quotes are termed "Yogism's" and are small soundbites of wisdom, that have become ingrained in the American fabric, even so that our modern gadget addicted generation can name at least one, although they wouldn't know it.

"We were overwhelming underdogs," Berra said about the New York Mets, and it rang true in his own life. He was an underdog and proved himself to himself and the world got lucky watching, as he continues to play, one of the greatest performances in baseball history.

It Ain't Over, is a journey through American Baseball history and is an intimate portrait of Lawrence Peter "Yogi" Berra. Like a baseball card collection, It Ain't Over assembled an all-star lineup featuring interviews from a who's who of baseball greats, celebrities, fans, friends, and family, It Ain't Over is a grand slam home run.

It Ain't Over opens in New York and Los Angeles on Friday, May 12, 2023. See it.

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Country: U.S.

Language: English.

Runtime: 98minutes. 

Director: Sean Mullin.

Featuring Interviews with: Allen Barra, Andy Andres, Audrie Garagiola, Billy Crystal, Bob Costas, Claire Smith, Dave Kaplan, Hal Steinbrenner, Héctor López, Joe Garagiola, Jr., Tim Berra, Larry Berra, Mary Frances, Sadowski Brown, John Thorn, Larry Doby, Jr., Douglas Chadwick, Lindsay Berra, Carol Holland Lifshitz, Roger Angell, Suzyn Waldman, Taylor Hudson, Joe Maddon, Vicki Janik, Vin Scully, Whitey Herzog.

Also interviewed were former Yankees Willie Randolph, Mariano Rivera, Nick Swisher, Ron Guidry, Dale Berra, Joe Girardi, Bobby Brown, Derek Jeter, Bobby Richardson, Tony Kubek, Don Mattingly, former Yankee's Manager Joe Torre.