The Last Play at Shea

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06/02/2014 /// On July 16th and 18th, 2008 Joel closed out Shea with two sold out shows before its slated demolition. Last Play at Shea incorporates both concert footage of the epic send-off and a history of the performer, the stadium, and their team making this unique film a peach for Billy Joel fans and a compelling historical document. Directors Crowder and Small cleverly intercut footage from Joel's concert with the history of the revered facility, and as a surprisingly profound bonus, the career of Joel himself, which seems inextricably linked to Shea. And so when Crowder and Small relive the key events of Shea, we get to experience some of the most dramatic moments in baseball history again. Shea's significance as a concert hall and the site of that legendary Beatles performance in 1964, which signalled both the birth of Beatlemania in the United States and the introduction of the stadium to the world. Outside of the U.S., Shea became synonymous with The Beatles and was thus in demand by the biggest bands in the world for their concerts. Footage of The Beatles, The Police, and of course Joel himself is thrilling to watch. Paul Crowder's The Last Play at Shea documentary is less a concert film than a continuation of the sentimental farewell. A surprisingly large amount of the running time is devoted to interviews with...well, just about everyone. You get interviews with ball players (Tom Seaver, Daryl Strawberry), sports analysts, assorted individuals who have played a large role in stadium's history, experts on the history of Queens and particularly the musicians participating in the concert (Joel, Paul McCartney, Sting, Roger Daltrey, John Mayer, Garth Brooks, and Tony Bennett). Everybody gets pretty sentimental about it; Shea means something to everyone. The film's biggest liability is perhaps its expansive, free-flowing nature, as it wanders away from the concert for very lengthy stretches to indulge only modestly interesting interviewees or present documentary pieces on the history of Shea (accompanied by narration from Alec Baldwin and light animation), examinations of Joel's life and career, explorations of important moments in Mets history...after a while, one starts to forget what exactly The Last Play at Shea is supposed to be about. Like a sob story from a colorful drunk, the film is meandering, unfocused and compelling all at once. For better or worse, all of this stuff is just thrown up on the screen with as much feeling and as little sense of purpose as possible. Personally, I was happiest whenever the film would go back to the primary event. The musical numbers (often presented in snippets, sadly) are lively and engaging, with Joel running through a series of his biggest hits. The guest performances are a treat, too: Tony Bennett seems livelier than usual when dueting with Joel on "New York State of Mind," while Joel and McCartney seem to enjoy getting the chance to play "Let it Be" together. As you might expect, the music veers towards the sentimental side of Joel's catalogue, with tunes like "Lullaby," "Goodnight Saigon" and "She's Got a Way About Her" making prominent appearances. The Last Play at Shea isn't particularly good as a Billy Joel documentary, concert film, Shea Stadium documentary, or cinematic experience, but there's something charming about it nonetheless. The Last Play at Shea sentimentally intertwines the biography of pop superstar Billy Joel with the story of Shea Stadium as they came together in 2008 for the last concerts held there before its demolition. Creatively, both of their stories are viewed in the context of the rise of the baby boomers and the suburbanization of working-class New York, illustrated with cute animations and some archival footage (with au courant revisionist approval of Shea's master-builder Robert Moses's construction projects). In addition to plenty of the usual game highlights and Mets memories for sports fans and the official spin on Joel's ups and downs familiar from the tabloids, a longtime groundskeeper keeps the documentary segments (directed by Paul Crowder) amusingly grounded. The concert excerpts (directed by Jon Small) feature guest stars who resonate with the stadium's history, from Queens native Tony Bennett dueting with Joel on "New York State of Mind" to the ecstatic climactic medley with Paul McCartney that commemorates the Beatles' famous performance there in 1965. As a big-budget entertainment, several versions of the film will be released. Though the film takes its name from Joel's two-night, venue-closing stand at Shea in the summer of 2008, it's not really a concert film. Instead, it cleverly weaves highlights from Joel's shows and the history of the Mets. A mostly nostalgic portrait with a warm voiceover provided by Alec Baldwin and talking heads ranging from Mets greats like Tom Seaver to Joel's friends like Christie Brinkley, it focuses on the major triumphs of both the team and the artist, never dwelling for very long on the negative side of things. What is here, though, moves along briskly with fun anecdotes from Joel and the former Mets; I particularly enjoyed learning about Shea groundskeeper Pete Flynn, who tended to the stadium's Kentucky Bluegrass for every one of its 44 seasons and who, according to Mike Piazza, would watch the occasional promotional events where children were allowed to run on his field boiling with rage at their intrusion. Non-Joel fans might chide director Paul Crowder's on-the-nose soundtrack selections - his choice, for instance, to score Joel's interview about his traitorous ex-brother-in-law and manager to the soundtrack of "Honesty" - but they accurately reflect the directness of Joel's music, which has always been more about storytelling than poetry. If Crowder's technique is blunt, it's never more so than his subject's. "The Last Play at Shea" strikes a celebratory tone throughout, not surprisingly, given that one of the two primary producers, Steve Cohen, worked as Joel's live production designer and director for 36 years. (According to Cohen's statement in the press notes, he developed the film on orders from Joel.) As enjoyable as "The Last Play at Shea" is, there are enough moments of richer insight nibbling at its edges to make you wonder what it would look like if had it been shepherded by folks who weren't longtime employees of its subject. Its most fascinating segments are the ones that reveal, often indirectly, the darkness in Joel's life. This is a man who loves music who has been repeatedly hurt by the music business, who's sold more than 100 million albums but who seemingly can't stand the way he looks, repeatedly putting down his physical appearance and describing himself at one point as an "unbelievably not good-looking guy." See more 02/09/2014 One of the most engaging documentaries I've ever seen. It perfectly weaves the life stories of a legendary stadium and musician together until it culminates into one extremely emotional event. Baseball history meets Rock history. See more 08/09/2013 http://filmreviewsnsuch.blogspot.com/2013/08/last-play-at-shea.html See more 07/30/2012 Interesting parallel lesson on the history of Shea Stadium and Billy Joel up until Joel played Shea's final event before it's destruction. The Beatles concert from '65, the black cat cursing the Cubs, Joel stealing his best friend's wife, and Mike Piazza hitting a game winning home run for the NY Mets days after 9/11. It's all here. See more 05/12/2012 This is an interesting documentary that is almost 3 films in one. It uses Billy Joel's concert from Shea Stadium which is to be the very last event ever held there to simultaneously tell Joel's story as well as Shea's stadiums, intercut with footage from the concert. i found the concert footage to be the last compelling aspects, but found the other 2 parts quite interesting. This film is still worth seeing, especially for the guest appearance at the end of the concert. Check it out! See more 04/23/2012 What a great doc for sports & music lovers - really three docs in one about Billy Joel, The New York Mets, and of course, Shea Stadium. I'm sure it really put a lump in the throats of many a longtime New Yorker, but even for me, I found it to be a very touching piece. And what great music, it doesn't get much better than Billy Joel & of course, my all-time faves, the Beatles. Many of my friends and co-workers were a part of the live music portion of this, and it had been on my list for a long while now. Glad I finally got to check it out! Def. worth a look. See more Read all reviews

The Last Play at Shea

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