Babe Ruth was arguably the greatest baseball player ever. In addition to being a terrific slugger, however, George Ruth was a womanizer, a drinker, and an irresponsible dope. At least that's what "The Babe" tries to demonstrate. John Goodman plays the lead role in this film set between 1900 and 1940, and if nothing else, he looks a lot like the original Ruth. The movie opens with George's parents dumping him in a home for orphans; before long, one of the schoolmasters reports that George is a drinker and a smoker (though only seven). George's fellow orphans tease him for being overweight, and only when the boys begin to play baseball does the taunting cease. George stuns his teacher and peers by hitting ball after ball out of the yard. Within a few years, George stars on the high school baseball team. A scout somehow finds George in this small Baltimore orphanage, and recruits him for a struggling minor league club. Before long, George finds himself in a Boston Red Sox uniform, and leads the Boston Sox to the championship. Within a year, Babe is sold to the New York Yankees, where he spends the remainder of his career (excluding a brief stint with the Boston Braves).

Unfortunately, the baseball scenes are scarce, and when we do see Babe Ruth at bat, John Goodman seems to be carelessly flinging the bat at the ball, while miraculously managing a homer 95 percent of the time. The players and fans are caricatures, one-dimensional characters, and Ruth seems to be the center in everyone's universe. For the true baseball fan, a trip to the ballpark would be at least as entertaining as this film, and might even be cheaper. n