'It Ain't Over:' Movie about Yogi Berra captures the heart and humor of an American icon

After a recent screening of “It Ain’t Over,’’ the aptly named documentary about legendary New York Yankees catcher Yogi Berra, a movie-goer raised his hand during a question-and-answer session with the film’s director.

“I hate the Yankees,’’ the man said, “but I loved the movie.’’

Like Lawrence Peter “Yogi’’ Berra himself, the movie is easy to love.

With black-and-white film clips, other archival footage and interviews with the likes of Derek Jeter, Joe Torre and Billy Crystal, the documentary captures the heart, humor and depth of Berra.

He was ridiculed for his appearance and laughed it off. Fought for his country and stood against prejudice. Won 10 World Series rings, three MVPs and the girl of his dreams – Carmen, his wife of 65 years.

He also produced Hall of Fame numbers as the Yankees catcher and said things like, “You should always go to other people's funerals, otherwise they won't come to yours,’’ and most famously, “It ain’t over ‘til it’s over.’’

What is not over is the allure of Berra, who died in 2015 at the age of 90 and whose life gets the treatment it deserved from film director Sean Mullin. The movie opens in New York and Los Angeles on Friday and in cities nationwide by June 16.

"Yogi was about so much more than baseball,’’ Mullin told USA TODAY Sports. "His life was defined by so much more than that.''

Fork in the road

In 2018, movie producer Peter Sobiloff saw “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?’’ – the documentary about Mr. Rogers – and wondered why no one had made a similar movie about Berra. Acquainted with two of Berra’s sons from playing in the Yogi Berra Museum golf outing for several years, Sobiloff got their support and approval to pursue the project.

Then he reached out to Mullin, a West Point grad who specialized in documentaries. Mullin loved Berra’s story but also knew all the money to make the film would have to be raised independently. He responded like Berra once advised people to do when they reach a fork in the road.

Take it.

Said Mullin, “It was all just us going around to friends and friends of the family and saying, ‘Hey, if you believe in us, if you believe in the project, give us some money and we think we’ll be able to sell this.’ ”

Four years later, the documentary was screened at the Tribeca Film Festival in June 2022 in front of 1,000 people. It got a standing ovation, and three months after that Sony Pictures bought the film.

'A force of nature'

Initially, Crystal or Bob Costas were seen as likely narrators for the film. But ultimately the role went to Lindsay Berra, Yogi’s 45-year-old granddaughter.

“As soon as I met her I was like, ‘Wow, this is a force of nature,’ “ Mullin said. “About a third of the way through the shooting, I made the decision she would be the narrator.’’

Said Lindsay Berra, “I was horrified when I first heard the idea. But I think that it has worked out in the sense that I get a little forgiveness from audiences because it’s endearing that I’m a granddaughter who loves her grandfather.’’

The love is palpable when Lindsay Berra shares recollections of her grandfather.

“My parents divorced when I was 5 and my grandparents became kind of a second set of parents,’’ she said. “I remember decorating the Christmas tree when I was little enough that grandpa could pick me up to put ornaments up high.’’

Then there were the games of whiffle ball, touch football and croquet between grandfather and granddaughter, and now narrating the story of his life.

Lindsay Berra, a former sports writer, said of Yogi, “As a first-generation Italian immigrant who absolutely came from nothing and really never thought of himself as anything special, I think he would have been blown away by … a movie about him being in theaters all across the country.’’

Billy Crystal's backyard

One by one, Mullin reeled in the baseball luminaries.

Mariano Rivera. Don Mattingly. Jeter. Torre.

But he also wanted someone who’d never suited up for the Yankees but loved Berra. Specifically, he wanted Crystal, the famous comedian and actor who grew up in New York a diehard Yankees fan and was in grade school when Berra was in his prime.

COVID-19 interrupted those plans.

But a year after the pandemic hit, Mullin found himself filming in the backyard of Crystal’s house in Southern California. The interview lasted for more than 90 minutes.

“Just had this incredible experience where he talked about just growing up and having Yogi be really the heart and the soul of the Yankees and just his adoration for him,’’ Mullin said. “I could probably just export that whole hour and a half and make that a film it was so good.

“Once I left the Billy Crystal interview, I just had the gut feeling that we had a movie.’’

Now that it’s headed to movie theaters across the country, the Yogi-ism that comes to mind is, “You can observe a lot by watching.’’

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Yogi Berra documentary 'It Ain't Over' captures heart, humor of Yankee