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by **ironman** » Thu Apr 14, 2005 12:45 pm

Bull Durham

Bull Durham is about minor league baseball. It's also about romance, sex, poetry, metaphysics, and talent--though not necessarily in that order. Susan Sarandon plays a loopy lady who just loves America's national pastime--and the men who play it. At the opening of every season, she attaches herself to a promising rookie and guides him through the season. Unfortunately, the player she bestows her favors upon does not really deserve it. She knows it, and veteran Kevin Costner knows it. Her choice, a dim bulb played for laughs by Tim Robbins, is the only one who doesn't know it. The film, directed by its writer, Ron Shelton, a former minor league player, is rich in subtle detail. There are Edith Piaf records playing in the background, fast-talking managers, and minor characters as developed as the leads. Sarandon's retro-'50s outfits make you think she's just another bimbo, not an English teacher very much in control of her life. And Costner's clear-eyed, slightly vitriolic performance is devastatingly sexy and keenly witty. The love scenes, though tasteful, are almost as humorous as they are hot. Sarandon's character likes to tie her players up and expand their horizons by reading Walt Whitman to them, "'cause a guy will listen to anything if he thinks it's foreplay." How can you not love a movie with such a wicked sense of humor? -Amazon.com

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For Love of the Game

Billy Chapel (Kevin Costner) is having a bad day. His girlfriend Jane (Kelly Preston, stunning as ever) says she's leaving, and his boss (Brian Cox) says he's selling the business and ace employee Billy may be out of job. Sounds like business as usual for an old-fashioned veteran. However, the business is baseball and for Billy Chapel, the 40-year old former all-star for the Detroit Tigers, it means his career--and his life--is at a crossroads.

Although it is no Bull Durham, For Love of the Game finds a solid and very believable role for Costner. The film is based on Michael Shaara's (The Killer Angels) stream-of-consciousness novel (the rough manuscript was found after his death 1988). The entire film takes place on Billy's day on the mound against the Yankees, a meaningless late-season game for the Tigers, but everything for Billy. In flashbacks, he lingers over his long relationship with Jane and his baseball career (from World Series heroism to a career-threatening injury). His one viable link to the game at hand is his catcher, played winningly by John C. Reilly. Costner, like Chapel, is looking for one more great performance, but the film is too simplistic and loopy at times to resonate. The love story has an extra helping of cuteness, and legendary baseball announcer Vin Scully nearly takes on a leading role, waxing grandiloquent. It's no grand slam, but a solid double. -Amazon.com

by **slomo007** » Thu Apr 14, 2005 1:03 pm

I realized he was in a lot...but I never realized how many baseball films Kevin Costner was in. He must be a huge baseball fan or something. :-?

by **raiders_umpire** » Thu Apr 14, 2005 1:07 pm

gotta go for the Durham

by **logan** » Thu Apr 14, 2005 1:08 pm

bull duhram

by **ironman** » Thu Apr 14, 2005 1:09 pm

Wha? Who the heck is voting for FLotG? I'm not saying its a bad movie but how is it better than Bull Durham?

Unless there are some chicks voting here.... :-?

by **Mookie4ever** » Thu Apr 14, 2005 1:11 pm

Stupid Kevin Costner - every time he needs a paycheck he makes another baseball movie.

At least Bull Durham was funny.

by **LBJackal** » Thu Apr 14, 2005 1:27 pm

He actually made another baseball movie this year - The Upside of Anger. Not really the main topic of the movie, but he plays a retired ball player which is a topic that keeps popping up in the movie. But hey, I'd rather have him keep making baseball movies than sequels to Water World.