Still We Believe: The Boston Red Sox Movie (2004)

• 75%
• 2004
• Documentary
• Drama
• Paul Doyle Jr.

A documentary look at the 2003 season of the Boston Red Sox and the pull the team has on its fan base as seen through the eyes and heard through the words of over half a dozen fans. The 2003 season is seen through the rooting interest of fans as well as from the working environment of the team's players, manager Grady Little, its team owners in businessmen John W. Henry and Larry Luccino and movie producer Tom Werner, and the team's youthful general manager Theo Epstein, who was bringing in a new and controversial philosophy toward running the team that was often revolved around statistical analysis of players, often seen as at the expense of eyewitness analysis and based in part on a much-discussed book, "Moneyball," that advocated managerial use of previously obscure statistics such as On-Base Percentage as opposed to more traditional stats. The pull of the Red Sox on its fans is often remarkable as seen through their devotion to the team, a devotion that sometimes seems irrational but which is always genuine. These fans run the emotional gamut as the Sox surge to a division lead, lose that lead, then rally to clinch a playoff spot. The fans' devotion is further tested in a grueling divisional playoff series in which the Red Sox rally from down 2-0 to win the five-game series, but it is the American League Championship Series against the despised New York Yankees, a series highlighted by a brawl in Game Three and frequent swings of momentum, that illustrates the passion that drives the fans of the team.