ChanBot i must have seen a different film!!

Intcatinfo A Masterpiece!

TrueHello Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

TaryBiggBall It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

SnoopyStyle Director Alex Gibney is a Boston Red Sox fan and recounts Bill Buckner in 1986. He sees similarity to scapegoating Steve Bartman. The Cubs are supposedly cursed since the Billy Goat in 1945. They haven't won the World Series since 1908 or been in one since 1945. It's October 14, 2003 Wrigley Field in Chicago. In the 8th inning of Game 6 of the NLCS, the Cubs are ahead 3–0 and up 3 games to 2. With 1 out, Steve Bartman reaches out for a foul ball deflecting it from outfielder Moisés Alou. It is a compelling sports story and a legendary scapegoat. It is crowd psychology and human nature. It's got great behind-the-scenes footage dissecting the incident from every angle. The main missing ingredient is Bartman himself. It is perfectly understandable but that would have make it the definitive word.

pepe4u22 I found this documentary moving and very poignant..The link between Bill Buckner and Steve Bartman intriguing. I watched this show after coming home from a local hockey game and as I was watching this documentary the behaviour of crowds that i had just dealt with appalled me as did the actions of the people towards Bartman. It has made me question whether if at sporting events people are either has-been, never were been or wish beens and living their lives through this sports maybe should awaken and understand that it is just a game it is entertainment and one should see it as so..and yes the sun will come up tomorrow..I recommend this show be played often dealing with young athletes to the parents to the overzealous to see how their shortsighted actions hurt others.

Sean Lamberger The oft-delayed "lost chapter" of ESPN's 30 for 30 series, this strives to be more than just a routine examination of the infamous Steve Bartman incident that may (or may not) have cost the Chicago Cubs a shot at the 2003 World Series. With the famously publicity-shy Bartman refusing to take part, the film instead leans on interviews with several of the fans to rub elbows with him that fateful evening and insightful confessionals from the announce crew that called the game, a good portion of the Cubs' starting lineup, the local news team that outed Bartman's identity to the public and several of the security guards that escorted him to safety as the situation escalated. Director Alex Gibney deserves credit for not only painting a broad, fair portrait of a chaotic, emotionally charged situation, but for rightly comparing it to other instances of misplaced blame and shameless scapegoating in pro sports and asking the difficult question of what exactly spins a knee-jerk reaction into a bonafide vendetta. Though the scrutiny of the Bartman play itself is a bit too intense at times, resulting in a run-time that's about 30 minutes too long, it accomplishes much more than a simple reenactment and should leave any serious sports fan wondering how many times they've reacted with the same brainless mob mentality over the years. Smart, challenging and honest; it's what any good documentary should strive to be.

Michael_Elliott Catching Hell (2011) **** (out of 4) Terrific documentary from ESPN about Chicago Cubs fan Steve Bartman, the man who would walk into Game 6 of the 2003 NLCS hoping to see history with the Cubs reaching the World Series but instead became history after interfering with a foul ball, which many fans fill caused their beloved team to lose the game, the series and a chance at breaking the "curse" on their team. Director Alex Gibney spends the majority of the time going over the Bartman play but he also starts the film off by flashing back to 1986 when another cursed team, the Boston Red Sox, lost their game 6 game when Bill Buckner let a ball go between his legs. As with the Cubs in 2003, the Red Sox would lose that game six and then lose the next game to lose the series. The documentary does a very good job at connecting the two men but it also asks the question on why both men were as hated considering there were other people to blame during both games and not to mention that both teams had a game 7 that they could have won. The documentary features interviews with Bob Costas, Steve Lyons who was calling the game for Fox, a Fox producer, several security guards working at the game and we also get interviews with many of the people who were at the game. Some of those at the game include people sitting right around Bartman and one idiot who would go down and confront Bartman and throw beer on him. CATCHING HELL is a terrific little documentary because it's not just for baseball fans because its story is almost like a Shakespeare play or some sort of Greek tragedy. The human side of the story of a man making one mistake and becoming the most hated person is quite a tall order. There's some footage of Bartman being led out of the stadium where all sorts of things are thrown at him and even to this day he hasn't really came out of hiding. I think it should be noted that the documentary reveals that the man has been offered at least two-hundred thousand dollars to tell his story but he refused to make a profit off of it. I think he speaks a lot more highly than most people in this story. With that said, it should come as no shock that Bartman is not interviewed here and that there would have been the only thing that could have improved the film. The argument is also made that the story will never go away until the Cubs win the World Series but others seem to think that Bartman could take some heat off of himself simply by talking. CATCHING HELL is a perfect documentary that fans of the sport should love but I think just about anyone will be able to feel for the characters of this play.