A wonderful tribute and legacy reclamation for one of baseball’s greatest
Throughout the first half of the twentieth century, the New York Yankees dominated the baseball world. Between a sixteen year span, 1947-1962, they won ten World Series titles. Only one player was on the team for all ten of those titles (a MLB player record) while also becoming an 18-time All-Star — Yogi Berra. And yet, his name is most commonly associated with witty sayings, or ‘yogi-isms’, like “When you come to a fork in the road, take it” and “It’s like déjà vu all over again.” In the early 2000s his wit was made even more famous by his appearance in an Aflac commercial (which was quite funny, actually). His ‘yogi-isms’ are neither the whole story, nor do they represent his greatest accomplishments. Berra was a World War II veteran, and then achieved some of the best player statistics in the history of the sport, and Sean Mullin’s new documentary, It Ain’t Over, splendidly captures and reclaims Berra’s much deserved legacy.
Lawrence Peter “Yogi” Berra made his major league debut in September, 1946 and hit home runs in each of his first two games. That was the impressive beginning to an illustrious career. For the most part, It Ain’t Over follows Berra’s career and personal life chronologically, from his time as a player to starting a family, becoming a baseball team manager, a much-publicized feud with former Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, and, finally, a legacy more and more defined by his media persona until his death in 2015. Mullen has gathered an impressive collection of baseball icons and Berra’s friends and family members to discuss Berra’s impact, including Derek Jeter, Vin Scully, Billy Crystal, Joe Torre, Mariano Rivera and many more.
It Ain’t Over is straight to the point and all the better for it. Mullin doesn’t shy away from important tangents, like Dave Berra’s (Yogi’s baseball player son) trouble with drugs, but never strays too far from the primary objective: giving us the facts and letting us decide if Berra’s baseball career and societal contributions deserve further celebration (hint: yes, they do). For those coming to It Ain’t Over already well-versed in Berra’s baseball accomplishments and life, they won’t be fed any new information. The film will simply be a joyous celebration of what they already knew. But for those new to Berra’s story, or those only familiar with his legendary quotations, It Ain’t Over is both a pleasurable and heartfelt excursion into American’s pastime and a look at one of its all-time greats, an American icon.
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It Ain’t Over opens today in Bay Area theaters.
