Tim Robbins (left) and Kevin Costner (right) in "Bull Durham." Photo: http://parallax-view.org/2008/09/24/tim-robbins-the-lucky-one/
"Bull Durham" is a good movie but not a great movie. As much as I like it I don't love it and so far it's been the least of the movies I have watched while doing this project. Don't get me wrong, it's a very enjoyable movie. If you're looking for a fun movie to waste time with and just escape it should do the trick. It's also one of the rare sports movie/romantic comedy hybrids that works. The story in the end just feels empty.
It follows the love triangle that forms on the Durham Bulls baseball team. The players: up and coming pitcher Ebby Laloosh (Tim Robbins), the experienced catcher assigned to mentor him "Crash" Davis (Kevin Costner), and the fan Annie Savoy (Susan Sarandon) who has an affair with one player on the minor league team a year. What I really liked was having a female character in Annie who was really into sports and knew so much about it. Usually women characters in this movie are clueless pawns.
Anne invites Laloosh and Davis over to her place one night to try and decide who she will pick to have an affair with during the season. The best part of the movie for my money is the scene at the end of the meeting where Costner lists all of his beliefs for Annie. In the end she chooses Laloosh but still has feelings for Davis. This goes on throughout the season and Davis becomes a good mentor to Laloosh. Of course there are the expected clashes and when Laloosh gets hot and eventually offered a chance at the majors ("the show" as Davis calls it) we see jealousy rear it's ugly head in Davis.
All three actors work really well together. Sarandon is convincing as romantic lead as well as a baseball junkie. Robbins is good as the hothead newcomer. But for me the best parts belonged to Costner. It's a crime to me how underrated he is as an actor. Sadly many wrote him off after "Waterworld" bombed. Those who think he's overrated or washed-up would do well to see his work in this movie and be reminded what a talent he really is.
My only complaint is that the film could have used a little more baseball and a little less romantic comedy. The romantic comedy aspect works, but none of it really tried anything new. With such a good script and such fine actors it's a shame this wasn't capitalized on more. Although this movie is better than 99.999% of the romantic comedies out there today. That says more about the state of romantic comedies than about quality of this movie. Is this a good movie and worth your time? Yes. Is it as good as the rest of the movies I have written about so far? No.
It follows the love triangle that forms on the Durham Bulls baseball team. The players: up and coming pitcher Ebby Laloosh (Tim Robbins), the experienced catcher assigned to mentor him "Crash" Davis (Kevin Costner), and the fan Annie Savoy (Susan Sarandon) who has an affair with one player on the minor league team a year. What I really liked was having a female character in Annie who was really into sports and knew so much about it. Usually women characters in this movie are clueless pawns.
Anne invites Laloosh and Davis over to her place one night to try and decide who she will pick to have an affair with during the season. The best part of the movie for my money is the scene at the end of the meeting where Costner lists all of his beliefs for Annie. In the end she chooses Laloosh but still has feelings for Davis. This goes on throughout the season and Davis becomes a good mentor to Laloosh. Of course there are the expected clashes and when Laloosh gets hot and eventually offered a chance at the majors ("the show" as Davis calls it) we see jealousy rear it's ugly head in Davis.
All three actors work really well together. Sarandon is convincing as romantic lead as well as a baseball junkie. Robbins is good as the hothead newcomer. But for me the best parts belonged to Costner. It's a crime to me how underrated he is as an actor. Sadly many wrote him off after "Waterworld" bombed. Those who think he's overrated or washed-up would do well to see his work in this movie and be reminded what a talent he really is.
My only complaint is that the film could have used a little more baseball and a little less romantic comedy. The romantic comedy aspect works, but none of it really tried anything new. With such a good script and such fine actors it's a shame this wasn't capitalized on more. Although this movie is better than 99.999% of the romantic comedies out there today. That says more about the state of romantic comedies than about quality of this movie. Is this a good movie and worth your time? Yes. Is it as good as the rest of the movies I have written about so far? No.
