It's Good to Be Alive (1974)

Sorry, this movie sucks

One of my all time favorites.

Yo, there's no way for me to review this film without saying, take your *insert ethnicity + "ass" here* to see this film,like now. You have to see it in order to know what you're really messing with.

It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

The touching, and at times tragic, story of Roy Campanella. I thought Paul Winfield was terrific as Campy, and Lou Gossett and Ruby Dee were good too! (hey, didn't Ruby play Jackie Robinson's wife too? Lucky Dodgers...) I really liked the use of actual player footage of Roy in flashbacks, seeing ol' #39 swinging the pine! And I thought seeing Roy himself at the beginning and ending was a nice touch! But my favorite scene of all was the fly scene! The terror, panic, and realization of helplessness really came out in that few minutes! Really well done!

This film is about the life of baseball player Roy Campanella following his car accident that left him paralyzed back in 1958. Up until that point, he'd been a major star--having been the league's MVP and all-star many times. Apparently, the film is based on a book written by Campanella about how he and his family dealt with the disability. Interestingly, this made for TV film was directed by Michael Landon and stars Paul Winfield as Campanella.So is it worth seeing? Yes. I liked how the film was NOT simply a schmaltzy inspirational story--a story that would have seemed very fake. Instead, Campanella, for a while, wallows in self-pity. Additionally, instead of bringing his family together, it just brought out the problems that were there and magnified them. All in all, a very good film and one that is apparently in the public domain, as it's available at archive.org--a website frequently linked to IMDb. My only quibbles are that of a history teacher, as some of the fashions and hairstyles are not true to the period--but, aside from nuts like me, most folks won't notice or care.

We get a front row seat to serious trials and tribulations as Roy Campanella, Major League Baseball's first black catcher, struggles to rehab from a car accident that left him paralyzed below the shoulders. We get some flashback moments to show how Roy got to where he did, but the focus is on his life after the accident, dealing with his own agonies and those of his family as they all try to cope, sometimes well, often times not.There are some trite/cliché moments in the movie (including a scene very reminiscent of the Lou Gehrig farewell speech), but even those hold up well due to the quality of the acting, and the realism of the direction (Kudos to Michael Landon in his directorial debut!).Solid acting performances by all the players, and a realism (I'd like to use the word "gritty" even though it isn't quite right, but neither is any other adjective I can think of) that hit me right in the gut.I think even those who don't like sports movies in general, but who appreciate a good real life drama, would enjoy this mostly "lost" TV movie. I'd never even heard of this before I saw it the other night, and it deserves a wider audience strictly on its merits, and even more so as an important piece of history many probably don't know about.

While it's "what a movie". I've got to wonder more : what a music score ! It's a very good TV. (Paul Winfield)'s performance is effective apart. (Louis Gossett Jr) did a great job as usual. I can't forget some scenes. Or the great meaning of the whole thing. However, I must give my heart for (Michel Legrand)'s music! It has the overzealous expression of the hero's glory days and the touching case of him later, then the rebirth of the hero inside of him once more. All of that while being a catchy, so memorable, tune as well.I don't run into that often in cinematic movies so how about TV ones! Believe it or not, maybe 15 years ago, I was out of reaching the soundtracks of movies easily, so I recorded the music out of the movie on a tape. I recall memorizing many of the movie's lines since they were mentioned on a magic music I used to hear daily. Ever since I put it on the list of my dream soundtracks to be bought in the future. This is indubitably one of the best music scores ever written for a movie.At the same time I recall being crazy about another melody of (Legrand) which's the title track of a TV series named (Love at First Side). Well, this is one series which I can't find in the mighty IMDb till now ! Finally, without this music (It's Good to Be Alive) can't be that highly good and alive.