Trader Mic's Movie Reviews: The last Play at Shea

Monday, November 28, 2011

The last Play at Shea - 5 stars out of 5 stars

This is the first time I am changing a favorite film.No longer is Nursery University my favorite documentary.It has been replaced by this film.Sure there are a few omissions.No mention that the Yankees played there for a year when the stadium was being refurbished.Very little of the NFL Jets but I think that might be a copyright issue with NFL films.No explanation of why the stadium was named for Bill Shea other than he was tasked to get a team for the venue by its creator Robert Moses.The jury is still out and debates if Moses did more good than bad in NYC's development.Still that pales with what is mentioned.The Beatles and all the Rock acts that played there make it far more then just baseball home for the lovable losers,the Mess. er I mean the Mets.Although the Mets where never or ever will be the team the Yankees are,they had a few great moments and they are shown here.Boston fans will cringe when Wilson's ground ball goes through Buckner's legs.Piazza's homer when baseball returns after 9/11,to name just a few.Lets not forget Shea was a staging area for cleanup that followed that attack. Back to music,Sting states in this film when he and the Police played Shea they knew nothing of baseball nd it was the Beatles that drew them there and while preforming on stage that night to all the fans adulation he knew what his future would be.Finally Billy Joel's career is explained to a extent because the concert he played was the real last play at Shea,not a Mets game.To comment on Joel who is the majority of the film even over the Mets,misses the point that Sting made.Shea was world known for a music venue not a baseball home then who better than Long Islands Joel ? This film will give some insight to what NYC was about growing up there as I did and for us native now departed New Yorkers a tear of nostalgia.Trailer URL below the pix .Released in 2010 it runs a too short 90 minutes.The closing is McCartney just arriving at the end of the concert from the airport to play 2 songs with Joel.