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“You can observe a lot by watching.”

Although attributed to the late Major League Baseball Hall of Famer/wit/pitchman Lawrence Peter “Yogi” Berra, one could imagine Albert Maysles, Frederick Wiseman or other legends of the observational/vérité strand of documentary positing this as a driving theme of a keynote address. Such is the understated prowess of this often misunderstood cultural icon, whose considerable achievements both on and off the field warrant a worthy documentary profile.

Enter filmmaker Sean Mullin, whose canon has consisted primarily of fiction features. Back in 2018, his producer, Peter Soboloff, was impressed with Rbg, about Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and Won’t You Be My Neighbor?, about television icon Fred Rogers, and he suggested that Mullin consider Yogi Berra as a protagonist. Soboloff then introduced Mullin to the Berra family.

Yogi Berra

“I’d done my research by the time I met with them,” says Mullin,...

Yogi Berra smiling. Photo credit: Getty. Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics

It doesn’t get any more delightful than the surprising, warm documentary about beloved baseball legend Yogi Berra, It Ain’T Over. Surprising? Yes, as this well-made bio documentary looks back at Yogi’s outstanding baseball career as player, something overshadowed and even forgotten by fans, as he became best known as a lovable pop culture icon and for his “Yogi-isms,” quotable phrases like “it’s deja vu all over again,” “when you come to a fork in the road, take it” and “it ain’t over until it’s over.” Yet Yogi Berra was a baseball player whose record put him among the greats of the game, As actor and baseball fan Billy Crystal put it, Yogi was “the most overlooked superstar in the history of baseball.”

The numbers are impressive, jaw-dropping even, considering what we might think we know about Yogi Berra.

A beloved ballplayer and an iconic consumer device join a Hollywood satire by Charlie Day, an Emanuele Crialese film with Penelope Cruz and debuts from Sundance and Venice in a potentially strong specialty weekend that will test the appetite for indie film with no new franchise wide releases.

Sony Pictures Classics opens Sean Mullin’s Yogi Berra documentary It Ain’t Over on 100 screens in NY and LA with a big regional push for the legendary Yankee, including complimentary plus-one tickets on Thursday and Sunday at Regal, AMC and City Cinemas in the New York Tri-State area. The intimate portrait of a baseball genius, master of aphorism, pitchman and endearing human being, Lawrence Peter “Yogi” Berra, premiered at Tribeca last year (100% Certified Fresh). Berra’s granddaughter Lindsay Berra, with Joe Torre, Derek Jeter, Don Mattingly, Bob Costas, Vin Scully, Billy Crystal and others are loving guides to Berra’s unparalleled accomplishments...

"He was the most overlooked superstar in the history of baseball." "He's just a gentle, kind soul..." Sony Pictures Classics has revealed an official trailer for It Ain't Over, a documentary about the baseball legend Yogi Berra. After initially premiering at the 2022 Nantucket Film Festival last year, it stopped by the Santa Barbara Film Festival earlier this year and will open in May in limited theaters. The documentary film gives "Yogi" Berra his due recapping the illustrious life of a "bad-ball hitting" catcher (for the Yankees), who was also a D-Day veteran, loving husband and father and, yes, product endorser and originator (mostly) of his own brand of proverbs that are now ingrained into everyday life. This features interviews with Billy Crystal, Bob Costas, Vin Scully, Derek Jeter, Joe Torre, Mariano Rivera, Joe Girardi, Ron Guidry, Willie Randolph, Don Mattingly, Tony Kubek, Bobby Richardson, Suzyn Waldman, and Lindsay Berra. It looks good,...

Sony Pictures Classics said it’s planning to release Sean Mullin’s documentary on baseball superstar Yogi Berra, It Ain’t Over, in theaters in New York and Los Angeles on May 12, expanding over following weeks.

The film is produced by Natalie Metzger, Matt Miller, Peter Sobiloff and Mike Sobiloff with Vanishing Angle and Off Media, and executive produced by Lindsay Berra. It world premiered at the 2022 Tribeca Film Festival in the Spotlight Documentary section.

This is an intimate portrait of Lawrence Peter “Yogi” Berra (1925-2015), one of baseball’s greats. The brilliant catcher for the most storied franchise in Major League Baseball history, the New York Yankees, he amassed 10 World Series rings, three American League Mvp awards, and a staggering 18 All-Star Game appearances

Berra was a native of St. Louis, Mo who saw combat in World War II and resumed his baseball career during the golden era in New York...

Sony Pictures Classics has acquired worldwide rights to It Ain’t Over, the feature documentary about legendary New York Yankees catcher Yogi Berra directed by Amira & Sam helmer Sean Mullin. The pic had its world premiere earlier this year at the Tribeca Film Festival.

SPC negotiated the sale with Cinetic Media. No release date has been set.

Yogi Berra Documentary ‘It Ain’t Over’ Wraps With Billy Crystal, Bob Costas, Derek Jeter, Joe Torre Among Talking Heads; Cinetic Boards Sales

The film, which looks to take viewers beyond the caricatures and “Yogisms” and into the heart of a sports legend whose successes on the field were often overshadowed by his off-the-field persona, tells Berra’s story through his granddaughter Lindsay Berra along with his sons, former Yankee teammates, players he managed, writers, broadcasters and admirers. Interviews include with Yankee alums Joe Torre, Derek Jeter and Don Mattingly, play-by-play announcers Bob Costas and...

Sony Pictures Classics has landed worldwide rights to “It Ain’t Over,” a documentary about baseball Hall of Famer Yogi Berra.

Sean Mullin directed the doc, which premiered at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival. The specialty studio has yet to detail any release plans for the movie.

Described as “an intimate portrait of a misunderstood American icon, “It Ain’t Over” illustrates the life and career of Berra, a sports legend whose accomplishments on the baseball diamond were often overshadowed by his off-the-field persona. Berra, considered one of the best catchers in baseball history, won 10 World Series championships during his 19 seasons in Major League Baseball, 18 of which were with the New York Yankees. He also became known for Yogi-isms, like “It ain’t over ’til it’s over” and “It’s déjà vu all over again.”

In the documentary, his granddaughter Lindsay Berra tells his story along with his sons, former Yankee teammates,...

Sony Pictures Classics has acquired the worldwide rights to “It Ain’t Over,” a documentary about baseball legend Yogi Berra that first premiered at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival.

Sean Mullin (“Amira & Sam”) directed “It Ain’t Over,” which is described as an intimate portrait about a misunderstood American icon. Berra’s granddaughter Lindsay Berra personally tells his story that aims to go beyond his catchphrases and aphorisms — or “Yogisms” — and tries to focus on how many of his on the field accomplishments were often overshadowed by his persona off the field.

Lindsay Berra also sits down with former Yankee teammates and players whom he managed, as well as writers, broadcasters and other admirers. Among those interviewed are the Berra family, Joe Torre, Derek Jeter, Don Mattingly, Bob Costas, Billy Crystal and even the late Vin Scully, among others.

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I’m a Red Sox fan of three-plus decades.

The context feels necessary before I admit that Sean Mullin’s documentary It Ain’t Over, focusing on Yankee great Lawrence “Yogi” Berra, actually made me a little bit teary by the end of its 98-minute running time.

Does the doc, premiering to what will presumably be an affectionate hometown audience at the Tribeca Film Festival, have flaws of structure and focus? Heavens yes.

But does it play convincingly, even to a specifically Yankees-hostile critic? Indeed, it does.

Mullin’s central thesis is that Yogi Berra has gone from one of the most adored and acclaimed athletes of his generation to a figure whose actual on-field prowess has maybe been lost to time — usurped in part by the pilfering animated bear who shares much of his name, his baseball achievements obscured by his famous...