Told with humor in
the face of heartache, this documentary combines archival footage
with contemporary interviews and focuses not on the players who
have come and gone, but on the diehard fans who live their lives
lamenting what some have come to call "The Curse of the Bambino."
CRITIQUE
The beginning of this
HBO documentary is a bit over-the-top. In the background of several
scenes are quotes from interviews with various people talking about
"the curse" while showing us a group of sad and depressing fans. The
effect is rather unrealistic. I also can't tell if the director
intended for this to be comedic or a dramatic
But whatever the case, the documentary's driven point is the "curse"
of the Boston Red Sox’s unsuccessful reign in the playoffs and the New
York Yankees trail of greatness. I’m not a baseball fan but found this
documentary to be
enjoyable just the same. It’s a trip back in time to America’s
past-time sport of all sports and gives some insight on how fans can
be driven fully into the fine sport that they can’t live another
moment without it.
Like many documentaries, The Curse of the Bambino includes
various interviews from both sides of the subject at hand, footage
from past and present time. Yet it also has that over-the-top dramatic
music in the background that sometimes accompanies documentaries. It
almost reminds me of the "The Monday Night War" DVD I have. Ben
Affleck's narration is good, his voice sounds enthusiastic.
THE VIDEO
HBO presents The
Curse of the Bambino in 1.33:1 fullscreen format. Because this
is made for TV, the quality isn't all that great and not too bad.
I didn't notice any grain, and the old footage that's used is
cleaned up quite nicely. Color balance looks good, too.
THE AUDIO
HBO presents The
Curse of the Bambino in either English Stereo or Spanish
Stereo. Interviews and sound come through clearly without any
distortions or noise. Everything comes from the front, and that's
fine.
THE EXTRAS
There are no
extras. I wasn’t expecting any since it is kind of an obscure
documentary. However, if I was putting this DVD together, I
would've put some effort in at least locating and including
newspaper articles reflecting on the subject of this
documentary, that is, the curse of the Bambino.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Because I’m not really a
baseball fan (or sports fan for that matter), I didn’t get into this
as much as a true hardcore baseball fan most likely would have. But
needless to say, it was still interesting to watch as it presented
interesting theories and provided a great trip back through time when
the sport really meant something.
