This movie does a great job of portraying the life of baseball legend Babe Ruth, as it starts with his life in an orphanage and focuses mainly on the years during his baseball career. The main highlight for me was John Goodman's excellent performance. The film did a good job with the games, baseball action, the Babe's outlandish behavior, his immaturity, his marriage and romance, and his womanizing. This movie is a must for any baseball fan or anyone interested in the sport. I loved the scene where he visited the kid in the hospital and promised to hit a home run for him. They stuck to the facts as best they could-they probably took some "creative liberties" in the process. The cast worked well together-I liked it and so will you.*** out of ****

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!

1st watched 5/15/2007 - 7 out of 10(Dir-Arthur Hiller): Well done depiction of baseball hero Babe Ruth with perfectly cast John Goodman in the title role who plays him with just the right amount of jollyness with the unexpected shows of vulnerability that seems to make sense for a man who lived like he did. He was abandoned as a young child by his parents supposedly because he was "bad" and grew up in a Catholic boys school with no real mother or father. He gained a skill while in the school and became an excellent baseball player. So much so, that a major league baseball team adopted him when he became a young adult. He was then traded promptly to the Boston Red Sox and his excellent baseball history began and then continued with the New York Yankees, where he was nicknamed the Bronx bomber or the Bambino and the stadium was then called "The House that Ruth Built." Between all of this, he married, divorced, re-married, caroused the bars, treated the kids who came to the games with love and did everything BIG. Kelly McGillis is excellent as the Babe's 2nd love interest and the one who really accepted him for who he was(as bizarre as some of his antics were). His famed visit to the children's hospital promising the sick child two home runs and coming thru with it and his heralded calling out of the home run to center field in the World Series is also depicted as expected. The movie also included little things like him not getting any money from the Baby Ruth candy bar company when they obviously named it after him. All of these things combine into a very entertaining and well put together movie by director Arthur Hiller. Sure, it's not as hard-nosed as it could have been but I think this was the kind of movie that should have been made about this larger-than-life baseball legend, especially with the lighter John Goodman in the lead role.

This is what modern-day Hollywood does to most icons, to most of our "heroes." It, generally speaking, trashes them, emphasizing the bad in their lives over the good.While the 1948 Babe Ruth Story way over-sugarcoated Ruth's story, this new version portrays this sports hero - perhaps the most famous sports personality in American history - to the other extreme, of course. Why can't Hollywood just be neutral on these biographies? Show the good and bad, but be fair about it.If you read about Babe Ruth, it's astonishing to find out just how big a celebrity he was in his lifetime: literally bigger-than-life, and the fact so many people know his name and face over 90 years after he started playing Major League Baseball is a testimony to that. Much of what Ruth did was good stuff, especially with kids and charities, but he also had a crude, rough side to him and a life that had more than its share of sufferings. He was, indeed, and complex and fascinating human being. One thing that is outright lie: the plot line as written on the title page here saying ' {Babe) is unheroic to those who know him." No, all the old players said for years afterward how much they all liked Ruth, what a great guy he was and generous to a fault."Ruth's bad points should be pointed out, but this movie dwells too much on the unpleasant scenes which is probably one good reason why it wasn't a hit movie. Hollywood just doesn't get it: people don't want mostly negative stuff, especially about their heroes.Anyway, John Goodman did a fine job of playing Ruth. He didn't write the script, so I am not upset with him. Kelli McGillis is a pretty woman and also adds nicely to the film as Ruth's strong wife, "Clare." Also, the movie is still interesting, especially if you're a baseball fan. But, as a big fan, I would like to have enjoyed this movie and bought the VHS (now DVD) and viewed it many times .....but it's not fun to watch.