ESPN Explores Point-Shaving Scandal In New "30 For 30"

ESPN today will debut its latest crop of "30 for 30" documentaries with "Playing For The Mob," which chronicles the Boston College basketball point-shaving scandal of the late '70s. The film is narrated by Ray Liotta, who in "Goodfellas" played the film version of Henry Hill, the mobster who helped orchestrate the scheme. Directed by Joe Levine, it also details how the scandal "was really a surrogate form of prosecution for a case the Feds couldn't make" (VARIETY.com, 10/6).

NEWSDAY's Neil Best writes fans of "Goodfellas" will be "powerless to resist," and the documentary is an "instant-classic addition to the '30 for 30' library." AWFUL ANNOUNCING's Ben Koo: "The film is paced well, which is always a concern for the longer 30 for 30's. Another positive is that the director got almost 100% participation."