This is a review of another documentary in the ESPN 30 for 30 series, “Four Days in October”. This is the story of the comeback by the Boston Red Sox in the 2004 American League Championship Series against the New York Yankees. The story is familiar, the Yankees up three games to none and having a 4-3 lead against the Red Sox in Game 4 with their formidable closer, Mariano Rivera on the mound, blow the lead, then eventually lose, 6-4 and starts a steamroller that doesn’t stop until the Red Sox win the World Series.
The documentary begins with Game 3 of the ALCS as the Yankees spank the Red Sox, 19-8 and as the entire New England region is grim, there is one positive voice in the wilderness, first baseman Kevin Millar who tells everyone within hearing distance that the Yankees had better win Game 4 otherwise the Sox could turn into a buzzsaw with Pedro Martinez pitching Game 5, Curt Schilling going in Game 6 and then anything could happen in Game 7. MLB Productions footage shows Millar wearing a microphone and while he may have been mugging for the camera, he tells Boston Globe columnist Dan Shaughnessy the same sentiments as well as fans behind the Red Sox dugout. And with that the documentary is on its way.
For Red Sox fans, this is a very familiar story. But with documentaries, there is the time for never before seen footage and this is the case with “Four Days in October”. MLB Productions is able to cull from player made video such as Millar’s to give a perspective from the Red Sox point of view. In addition, Schilling, David Ortiz, Millar, Martinez, even Johnny Damon are seen giving some fresh takes on four games that led to an unprecedented comeback and victory for the Red Sox.
The footage is the real MVP of the series. You see that even with the 19-8 loss, the Red Sox remained loose and carefree, the theme of the “Idiots” that were the leaders of the team. And that helps them throughout the ALCS.
As with past 30 for 30 documentaries, there is no narrator. While it may not have worked as well with other 30 for 30 efforts, it works here. The action and highlights from MLB Productions are spliced between the interviews.
While the interviews and the footage are A+, the main problems with “Four Days in October” are the segments with 30 for 30 Executive Producer Bill Simmons and “comedian” Lenny Clarke. There is no need for them to play spokesmen for Red Sox fans. They don’t speak for me. While Simmons’ thoughts on the ALCS are well chronicled in the great book “Now I Can Die In Peace“, neither he nor Clarke add anything fresh to the documentary. They try to be edgy by cursing and swearing (bleeped out). Clarke is a lamp shade here. Simmons is just worthless in his appearances. Both try to portray themselves as Average Sports Joes by talking in a bar, but these segments are contrived, waste time and should have been cut for more behind-the-scenes footage. Their segments bring a very fast moving documentary to a screeching halt.
Simmons and Clarke aside, I found myself reliving great moments in Red Sox history. As a Red Sox fan, I got excited again seeing the David Ortiz heroics in Games 4 and 5, watching Curt Schilling’s performance in Game 6 and the pounding of the Yankees in Game 7. Millar’s footage before Game 6 is amazing and revealing. The documentary is worth seeing just for that alone.
MLB Productions produced “Four Days in October” and did a very good job. It’s another in the line of very well done 30 for 30 documentaries.
I give the film an A plus for the subject matter, the interviews and the footage. I give the segments with Simmons and Clarke an F. For that, I cannot give “Four Days in October” an A, but a solid B.
