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Bull Durham

Bull Durham

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: SEX AND MINORS-THE BEAUTIFUL LADY AND THE MINOR LEAGUES
Review: BULL DURHAM IS AN IRREVERANT ROMP THROUGH THE MINOR LEAGUES STARRING KEVIN COSTNER AND SUSAN SARANDON AS TWO PEOPLE WHO WANT MORE THAN ANYTHING TO BE TOGETHER AND YET BOTH WIND UP PULLING AWAY AND LETTING THE NEW PHENOM (PLAYED BY TIM ROBBINS) COME BETWEEN THEM.

CRASH DAVIS (COSTNER) IS A CATCHER WITH 10 YEARS IN THE MINORS WHO HAS BEEN ASKED TO WORK WITH THE LATEST "MILLION-DOLLAR ARM". HE HAS TO HELP THE PITCHER LEARN THE ROPES OF THE MENTAL GAME OF BASEBALL AS HE LEARNS TO FIND HIS CONTROL IN HIS PITCHING.

SUSAN SARANDON'S CHARACTER IS ANNIE SAVOY, WHOSE NAME HARKS TO THE FEMALE HANGERS-ON THAT OVER THE YEARS HAVE BEEN KNOWN IN BASEBALL AS "BASEBALL ANNIES". THESE WOMEN ARE GROUPIES WHO WILL DO ANYTHING TO SLEEP WITH A BALLPLAYER. ANNIE SAVOY IS ANYTHING BUT A "BASEBALL ANNIE", HOWEVER. SHE BELIEVES IN "THE RELIGION OF BASEBALL" BECAUSE IT DOESN'T LAY ANY GUILT ON YOU. MEANWHILE, SHE COMMITS HERSELF SEXUALLY TO ONE MAN EACH SEASON (THE PHENOM IN THIS CASE), AND LEGEND HAS IT THAT HER LOVER FOR THE SEASON WILL HAVE THE BEST YEAR OF HIS CAREER.

THERE IS TOO MUCH LANGUAGE IN THIS MOVIE, AND A LOT OF SEX. THERE IS ALSO THE SQUARE BORN-AGAIN PLAYER AND THE BLONDE WHO SEEMS TO SLEEP WITHANY GUY WHO WEARS A PROTECTIVE CUP.

THERE IS EVEN A WEDDING IN THE OFFING, BUT I WON'T SPOIL THE SURPRISE. YOU'LL HAVE TO WATCH THE FILM TO SEE WHO MARRIES WHO.

THIS IS A MOVIE WELL WORTH WATCHING. FIX YOURSELF A BIG BOWL OF HOT BUTTERED POPCORN AND SEE COSTNER AT HIS MOST LUSCIOUS AND SARANDON AT HER MOST BEGUILING.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: One of the funniest and finest looks at baseball there is
Review: If you're looking for a great baseball movie, look no further. This is a movie with subtlety, wit, charm, and sports. By now, you've heard all the great things about this movie, so here are a couple little tidbits that make this movie extra special. The Durham Bulls (for those who aren't baseball fiends) are a REAL minor league baseball team, with a heck of a following. After this movie, the team became legendary. Both "Crash" Davis and Eddie "Nuke" LaLoosh were real minor league ball players from the minor leagues (though Eddie LaLoosh never had the nickname Nuke, since he played around 1920). Shelton, who knows sports inside and out, is in his own element with baseball. This is a must for any baseball aficianando.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: I hate baseball, love this movie.
Review: Brilliant. The dialogue is the best I have seen in any movie made in the last 25ish years. Susan Sarandon absolutely slays me in this movie. She is just so damn good. And remember when Kevin Costner could actually act? This was made THEN.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Respect yourself -- get this movie!
Review: There's a ton of good lines in this movie and I've memorized most of them having seen it so many times. One of the best (by Costner to Robbins) "You don't respect yourself and that's your problem. You don't respect the game, and that's my problem."

Well, here's a way to respect yourself -- get this movie! It's one of the best movies of all time. It addresses more than baseball, but also sex and love and the difference between the two, growing up, finding yourself and being true to yourself. It's funnier than heck, but also with meaning.

It's truly a classic and an underrated one at that and Susan Sarandon has never looked better!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The best sports movie ever (so far, anyway)
Review: This movie is that it's not really about baseball, but about baseball players. As such, the movie does NOT lead to an annoying, cheesy climax like most sports movies (i.e. the big game). Instead, it starts about a dozen games into the season and ends a few months later, with no mention of playoffs or championships. During this time, players are released/traded, get married, etc. The main characters are a veteran catcher (Costner) brought in to help mature the young gun with the big fastball and no brains (Robbins). Both are stellar performances by actors that were little known at the time.

It is a very funny movie. The tone is maintained perfectly throughout the whole show, so you become absorbed and care about the characters, even the peripheral ones. The parallel story, about the relationship between the main characters and the team's groupie (Sarandan) is also entertaining, amusing, and interesting.

I personally prefer the baseball story over the romance story - the romance well done, but standard. The director, Shelton, was a minor league player for several years, and there are numerous little details that make the story ring true - time on the busses, meetings on the pitcher's mound, etc.

As for this DVD edition, there are not a lot of extras, except for a director's commentary. It's almost more of a writer's commentary, as Shelton also wrote the story. I'm always surprised at how candid directors are at pointing out scenes they don't like. Especially interesting are his description of scenes that were cut (unfortunately, these scenes are not included as extras), and why they were axed. He also relates the "true stories" behind a number of the antics that appear in the movie. There is one complaint of his that I can't agree with - he apologises a number of times for certain scenes that don't look as good as they could, but this is a strength of the movie. A movie about the minor leagues should have an unpolished look - it adds to the authenticity.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A charming tour through the church of baseball
Review: The great thing about this movie is that it begins by presenting us with three fairly cliched characters, then flips them upside down to reveal that there's much more to them than first revealed.

Tim Robbins (as Epy Calvin "Nuke" Laloosh... what a delightfully preposterous name) begins as a totally unsympathetic character (so much so, that the first time I saw the movie I thought Tim's acting was awful). He is the prodigal son, blessed with immense talents but a pea-brain. Throughout, his mental midgetry is put on full display (witness his butchering of the song "Try a Little Tenderness", a hilarious scene). But his saving grace, his golden moment, occurs near the end of the film when he purposefully mispronounces Crash's mantra 'fear and arrogance' as 'fear and ignorance', just to get under his skin. It also reveals his newfound affection for the older man. It's a great moment of personal growth, the pupil overtaking the teacher if you will.

Susan Sarandon (as Annie Savoy) thinks she has it all under control. Every summer, she takes a rookie from the baseball team, and teaches him about sex, God, and Walt Whitman. The locals all see her as some all-seeing gypsy-type. And she sees herself that way too. But her weakness shows when it begins to look like she's losing the tug-of-war for Nuke's attention to Crash. Her vulnerability is made evident in the scene where she barges into Crash's hotel room while he's doing his ironing. He challenges her (both mentally and sexually, as no one else in the film could) and she crumbles. Instead of a baseball-goddess, she is revealed as nothing more than a lonely woman. It is a touching moment.

And Kevin Costner (as the aforementioned Crash Davis) is just perfect. Costner has not delivered a performance since that comes close to his work as Crash (witness his speech near the beginning listing all the things he believes in; it is a powerfully acted, not to mention written, scene). He is charming, cool, and almost Zen-like in his knowledge of baseball mannerisms and manners. But he is also incredibly flawed. He is rapidly approaching the end of his career -- a career that led him to one brief cup of coffee in the major leagues. That's his albatross: that with all his smarts and wit, it's young guns like Nuke who will enjoy all of the rewards that "The Show" has to offer, while he is left scrounging for work in the "bus leagues". And his dalliance with Annie has caught him off-guard, for she is the only one who is able to strip away his cynical veneer and see his insecurities.

These are three great, fully formed characters, pulled off by three fine pieces of acting.

The movie is full of great moments; my favourites include the meeting on the mound scene (where they discuss wedding gifts and voodoo curses), the "lollygaggers" pep talk, and Crash's anti-hero retort to a 12-year old batboy who has just offered encouragement: "Shut up!" It's all wrapped up in Ron Shelton's wonderfully witty script, which manages to get both the baseball and the romance just right. I suspect that anyone unaccustomed to the romance of baseball will have a tougher road to "get" this movie, but if you do, then it's quite a charming trip.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Wonderful Movie, great commnetary
Review: Bull Durham is a baseabll clasic. Even if you don't like Baseball, I would recomend this DVD for Director Ron Shelton's commentary.

I have to say its some of the best, most interesting commentary about making a film that's I've listened to.

I completely recomend it.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Kevin and Susan sizzle in this movie!
Review: This was the first "grown up" movie I ever saw by myself - that I remember that almost 15 years later should tell you something.

Susan Sarandon is Annie, a small town teacher who is a total baseball groupie. Every year, she chooses a rookie and with her wisdom and, well, sex, helps him mature and get through that scary first year. This year, the choice is either veteran minor-leaguer Crash Davis (Kevin Costner) or the rather dimwitted player Crash calls "Meat" (Tim Robbins) - but Crash refuses to "try out" and so Annie ends up with Meat.

However, the sexual attraction is still there and Annie knows that what she DOESN'T yet have with Crash is much more than what she DOES have with Meat so in the end it all works out, sort of.

This is such a rich movie, wonderfully acted by all three leads and a delight to watch over and over.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The Best Movie ABOUT Baseball Ever Made
Review: If you love baseball like I do, this is the movie for you. While it might (and I only say 'might') fall short in other areas (how realistic was this pseudo-menage-a-trois anyway?), it knows baseball like no one's business. It offers insights to the average fan, and cuts a satirical but realistic swath through the life of a minor league ball player. Most importantly, it is ultimately a hugely enjoyable and entertaining story.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Wonderful to watch NEVER again !
Review: THis lousy picture features Costner as an baseball player. If you don't like baseball, skip thismovie right away. If you like it, you'll regret ever renting it (or buying it), because Sarandon and Costner give us a cascade of cliches seldom seen nowadays!


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