BULL DURHAM (1988)

Country: U.S.A.

Genre(s): Comedy

Director: Ron Shelton

Cast: Kevin Costner / Susan Sarandon / Tim Robbins

Plot

Cynical Minor Leagues catcher Crash Davis is assigned to babysit his team’s wreckless, young pitcher through a season of baseball.  Meanwhile local baseball groupie Annie does her best to improve both men’s games on the field and under the sheets.

What I Liked

My source book, the 2011 edition of “1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die,” includes so many movies for being artistically revolutionary, socially profound, or intellectually complex that is kind of refreshing to watch a film on the list that is really none of these.  “Bull Durham,” like the sport it celebrates, is mainly just an old-fashioned good time.  Essentially Americana filtered through a baby boomer perspective, the movie doesn’t go for anything groundbreaking, but hits all the bases for entertainment and laughs.

A great deal of what makes the film work is that it gives us what feels like an authentic look inside a mediocre ball club.  Writer-director Ron Shelton was in the minor leagues himself and thus his experience informs his debut film with language, relationships, and experiences that crowd the comedy in truth.  Thus the old adage, “it’s funny because it’s true” applies as well here as it does to maybe any comedy.

Kevin Costner’s performance has been hailed as perhaps his best, and maybe it is.  He hits the perfect balance between cynicism and vulnerability to be both cool and relatable.  But Tim Robbins deservers at least equal praise in my eyes for playing the asshole-you-can’t-help-but-root-for Nuke LaLoosh.  Though the character of LaLoosh - basically a man-child jock blessed with terrific physical talent and no brains – is somewhat of a cliché, Robbins’ performance rises above the caricature to make his character charismatic and funny.

What I Didn’t Like

Perhaps Susan Sarandon deserves a good deal of praise for her role as the poetry-reading seductress Annie.  Annie is sometimes legitimately sexy, despite the fact that I don’t’ find Sarandon physically attractive in the least.  At other times I found her skeletal, bug-eyed face so off-putting that I had difficulty even looking at the screen.

And, as mentioned above, truth be told, the film is in no way idiosyncratic, profound, enlightening, or ground-breaking.  It's really just a pleasant comedy good that failed to score with audiences in theaters at the time of its release and ultimately doesn't deserved to be mentioned in the same book as heavy hitters like "Citizen Kane," "The Wizard of Oz," or "Metropolis."

Most Memorable Scene

In terms of laughs, for me the funniest moment was when a meeting between Crash and Nuke on the pitcher’s mound turns into a regular “convention” of most of the rest of the team as they hold up the game discussing everything from family to where to find a sacrificial chicken.  Costner and Robert Wuhl in particular shine in this moment which one feels might also be based on some of Shelton’s real experiences.

My Rating: 3.5 out of 5