Bull Durham (1988)

 Bull Durham (1988)

In terms of cinema, you will come to realize, if you haven’t already, that Kevin Costner and baseball are synonymous with one another. A match made in heaven. Field of Dreams is one of my favorite movies, but a year before that classic came the funny Bull Durham. Directed by former minor-leaguer Ron Shelton, this movie is one that all sports fans need to see. What I especially like that even if you are not familiar with the in-and-outs of baseball, one can still understand the movie with its rich characterizations and a romantic comedy that mostly avoids it usual tropes. Shelton was going for the fences with this film and he succeeded with his ground-rule double. It could have been a home run with some minor tweaks, but it still worked very well for me.

Before he ventured into a filmmaking career, Ron Shelton was a minor-leaguer who retired at the age of 25 because he had no shot at the big leagues despite making it as high as Triple A. As much as the feature is a romantic comedy, it is also a film about the hard life of minor league baseball. The scene where the manager has to give the hard truth about cutting a player (maybe coaching within the organization next season?) is definitely relatable for many players. It was also hard for Shelton, who also wrote the screenplay, to find a studio to finance the movie because baseball films were not perceived as profitable during the 1980’s. Orion relented and gave Shelton a small budget to get the film made. With a prime summer release date, fantastic reviews, and even some Oscar buzz, Shelton’s movie was a success.

In terms of characterization, Shelton created something unique…especially for the time period. He wanted to tell the story from a woman’s view…which is very rare for a sport like baseball. Annie Savoy, played delightfully by Susan Sarandon, uses her “Church of Baseball” gospel as a spiritual and sexual energy for herself. Her narration in the beginning explicitly makes us understand how she sees the world of baseball. It is definitely a crazy aspect of the story, but it causes a hilarious and interesting love triangle. While mostly avoiding cliches for rom coms and sports flicks, the film has some minor stumbles within the story itself. I thought the ending was spot on, only if it is an impossible ending if this was based on reality.

It is the beginning of the minor league season and our team of focus in the Durham Bulls. Annie Savoy (Susan Sarandon) is a fanatic fan of the team. She follows her own gospel of baseball. At the beginning of each season, she chooses one lucky player (usually the best) to take under wings, sexually or otherwise. This particular season, there is a sort of competition for her affection. She can either have the flamethrowing Eddy Calvin “Nuke” LaLoosh (Tim Robbins) known for his elite fastball but horrible command when thinking about his pitch (which creates some hilarious film moments) or the veteran catcher Crash Davis (Kevin Costner) whose sole purpose is to harness Eddy’s command. While Eddy would be glad to have sex with Annie as part of the game, Crash is the first player to take himself out of the running because he wants an emotional connection with someone rather than the sole purpose of just sex. As the season wears on, a sort of love triangle occurs between these three humans…but perhaps maybe they will learn more about themselves and each other.

Undoubtedly, the performances are heartfelt and hilarious. I cannot see anyone else but Susan Sarandon inhabiting the complex role of Annie Savoy. On one hand, her character portrayal could have been seen as a pathetic case study. But under the steady direction of Shelton and Sarandon’s smooth performance, we just have a woman who loves baseball, her team, and its players. A mega, mega fan. Kevin Costner is perfectly cast as the veteran catcher Crash Davis. Costner is a huge baseball fan and perhaps that is why this performance is one of his finest in a role with many memorable performances. Does he ever fight and tell stories to his costar Tim Robbins who is excellent as the hotshot rookie with major aim issues. “Nuke” as he is called is sometimes clueless to the inner mechanisms of Annie’s philosophy. Between that and a fastball that might kill someone, he delivers some great comedy.

Overall, Bull Durham is a film that preaches about love (despite only knowing a loose definition) and baseball (certainly knows much about the struggles of minor-league life). It is much of a baseball film as it is about people finding out what love actually is. The film mainly works because of the awesome performances from Sarandon, Costner, and Robbins and the superb writing/directing from Shelton. In a sense, Shelton approached the film as if he was Robert Altman. Definitely saw some similarities. Anyhow, this film is just one of a few that shows why Costner is a legend in Hollywood when baseball is involved.

My Grade: B+