Movie Review: “Lost Son of Havana”

No list of Most Beloved Boston Athletes of All Time is worth the toner it’s printed with if it doesn’t include Luis Tiant in the Top 5. At his best Looie was as good as Pedro, as clutch as Schilling and Beckett and as charismatic as… well, himself. He defied comparison. No less an authority than Peter Gammons says Tiant is his favorite ballplayer, ever. And apparently he’s not the only one who feels that way because in case you missed it, the Farrelly Brothers made a movie about Tiant that premiers this weekend. The movie is called “The Lost Son of Havana,” it was produced by Kris Meyer who’s a South Shore guy and a few weeks ago I got a private screening of it along with El Tiante himself, because working for the world’s fastest growing media juggernaut is not without its privileges.

“Havana” is actually three or four different stories all rolled together into one high-quality Cuban cigar of a movie. Mainly it’s about Looie’s first trip back to Cuba since he defected as a 20 year old phenom in 1961. But it also tells the story of how he grew up the son of one of Cuba’s national baseball heroes but had to leave his family behind for the chance to play baseball in the US. And “Lost Son” is the best account of his baseball career I’ve ever seen. The scenes from the mid-70s when Tiant’s mom and dad got special permission to come live in Boston with their son… then watch in person while he becomes a folk hero in the ‘75 World Series… are like video pepper spray.

The Cuba scenes avoid politics, but in Cuba the politics are everywhere. Believe me nothing will make you hold on tight to your freedom faster than seeing what a country with complete government control over your life looks like. The streets of Havana are frozen in time, indistinguishable from “Godfather II.” The people Tiant meet live in deprivation. One of his aunts sums it up the way only an old lady who’s been through the ringer can. “Life is so big” she says. But there are funny parts throughout. Tiant meets another aunt he hasn’t spoken to in 40+ years and within .5 seconds she starts kvetching about how her back is bothering her and how she hasn’t been sleeping and you realize that old people squawking about their health is the universal language. Or the part when Tiant visits the park where Cuban guys stand around all day arguing baseball and it hit me that these could be my friends except they’re speaking Spanish and they’re not drunk.

The baseball footage is flat out incredible. Tiant starting the 1968 All Star Game when he was with Cleveland. His disasterous shoulder injury that should’ve ended his career until he finally re-invented himself from power pitcher to a human Swiss army knife of pitches, moves and deliveries. And the highlights of his games against the Reds, including his 170 pitch complete game epic are worth the time out of your life all by themselves. But there’s a great story here as well. If you’re old enough to remember El Tiante, you know what I mean. If you’re not, you missed out. Either way the Farrellys delivered the goods and “Lost Son” is a great movie about a guy who’s life is so big.

(The premiere is Saturday night after the Red Sox-Yankees game at the Somerville Theater in Davis Sq. and I’m giving up the NFL Draft to watch it again.  It’s that good.)