Film Review: Catching Hell

Director: Alex Gibney

An ESPN documentary showing how one moment can completely change your life and just how important professional teams are to fans. The story of Steve Bartman who tried to catch a foul ball as a souvenir during Game 6 of the National League Championship Series in 2003 when the Chicago Cubs were one game away from the World Series which they haven't won since 1908. Moisés Alou was the Cubs outfielder who tried to catch the ball to claim the second out of the 8th inning leaving just 4 outs remaining for the Cubs to win the ball game as they lead 3-0 at the team. The crowd completely turned at this point after realising that the fan had denied the Cubs an out and the team then committed errors including a wild pitch by Mark Prior and a misfield by shortstop Alex Gonzalez who led the league in fielding that year.

The film begins by comparing the incident to what happened in the 1986 World Series when Bill Buckner let a groundball sneak through his legs to let the Mets win game 6 against the Red Sox. He was made the scapegoat for the teams loss that night despite errors from others that meant the Red Sox blew a 5-3 lead in the 9th inning. The documentary showed how Bartman stopped Alou catching the ball but that another 3 or 4 people in the crowd also went for the ball and that it was the errors by the players after that caused the defeat.

Moisés Alou prevented from catching foul ball by Steve Bartman who tries to catch a souvenir

Every single moment of what happened and the aftermath is superbly analysed in the film including another fan that filmed himself and the reactions of those around him towards Bartman after they realised what happened. It is truly shocking to hear some of the things that were shouted before he was showered with beer and other debris before one fan went down to pick a fight with him. Bartman has pretty much been in hiding ever since as he fears for his safety and the curse of the Billy Goat continues in Chicago as the Cubs haven't won a playoff game since.

We hear interviews from fans who were sat near the incident as well as telecasters from the game and other local media. They discuss at length the ethical debate of endlessly discussing the incident on the news against the harassment of somebody who in the end only did what anybody else would have done as the footage proves. Bartman turned down a chance to be interviewed for the documentary and also turned down lucrative offers from big brands including a six figure sum to appear in an advert to be aired during the Super Bowl. The film captures the emotions from both sides of the argument brilliantly and was intriguing to watch throughout even if you aren't a fan of baseball.

4/4 thorough and compelling documentary