Fanático

Is it just me or does this film share so many of the aspects that the King of Comedy made over ten years earlier? Both of De Niros characters are losers who have a dream, both are unlucky in love, both have short tempers when pushed, both have obvious disorders within their mind and both are obsessive 'fans' of bobby rayburn and jerry langford, respectively. Stalking and kidnapping occurs in each film by De Niro, of his respective hero but neither hero actually gets hurt. Though in the King of comedy he is funnier and probably a nicer guy!

Sports and Robert DeNiro together. I was in heaven...until I saw the movie It seemed like a great idea, but it just didn't quite work. A bit of a combination of an ordinary, if not over-necessarily creepy storyline, and an ordinary script. The movie revolves around Robert DeNiro's character, Gil, an over obsessed sports fan who decides he wants to play an active role in the career of Bobby (Wesley Snipes), in a performance that will be mentioned in the same sentence as "Passenger 57". Gil cracks when problems with his family and job explode, causing him to focus all his energies in Bobby. How far will Gil go to get what he wants? See it to find out.

Pretty disappointed with this movie, although it features one of my favourite scenes ever when Gil and Bobby have a little game of baseball near the end.

Gil Renard (Robert De Niro) is a failing knife salesman, a SF Giants fanatic, a divorced father of a boy, and a very angry guy. Bobby Rayburn (Wesley Snipes) is a new sign to the ball club, and the hope for savior. Both men's lives go downhill.

Director Tony Scott has made a movie filled with flash and sizzle. It doesn't accentuate as much as distract. When there is a master thespian like Robert De Niro, all the extra fireworks just take the focus away from the real show. And Wesley Snipes isn't likable enough. A less stereotypical selfish black athlete may help. His scenes with his agent Manny (John Leguizamo) are annoying and tiresome. This could have been a creepy character study like the iconic 'Taxi Driver'. But it never allows De Niro any peace and quiet to do his work properly.

This movie wasn't as bad as everyone says. I think it's safe to say that I am a fan of Robert De Niro, and that will certainly help if you like Robert De Niro to enjoy this movie. But I didn't enjoy this movie solely on the fact that I like De Niro, I thought Snipes gave an equally choice performance. The thrills in this movie were small, but they were satisfying. The ending is, without a doubt, the best part. There were other good thrills though, like the freezer scene.

I must say that I liked this movie a good deal. Its is not without its flaws, but in order to enjoy this movie, and a lot of other movies for that matter, you must look past the flaws, and just take it for what it is. Enjoy this movie for its handful of thrills, decent acting, and great music (I am a big fan of the Rolling Stones also). This is a good no-brainer with a creepy overtone, so just watch it for its pros, not its cons. 8/10

It may be true that everyone during their lifetime has fifteen minutes of fame, even if in most cases it only lasts about a minute and a half. And if that minute and a half comes early in life, how far into adulthood can you carry it with you, and when does a healthy memory become an obsession that finally blurs the line between reality and fantasy? `The Fan,' directed by Tony Scott and starring Robert De Niro and Wesley Snipes, is an intense and disturbing motion picture that examines that moment and the effects it can have on the lives of those either directly or indirectly involved. Here, the focus is on one Gil Renard (De Niro), a knife salesman in San Francisco and a die-hard Giants fan who is pumped about the acquisition during the off-season of superstar centerfielder Bobby Rayburn (Snipes), whom he believes will bring a pennant to the team. Once a player himself-- a pitcher-- Renard's life has since been on a downhill slide. Divorced, he has a young, little league aged son, Richie (Andrew J. Ferchland), with whom he has an unsettling relationship, and at work, his sales have been so poor his job is on the line. An angry, disturbed individual, Renard has reached a pivotal point in his life; for inspiration, he continually returns to the philosophies of the catcher from his playing days, Coop (Charles Hallahan), whom he considers one of the finest athletes he ever knew. And as his life continues to deteriorate, his obsessions begin to add further to the imbalance of his perceptions of reality, which finally lead him past a point of no return.

Scott's film, of course, has less to do with baseball than it does with how the game itself actually relates to life and the things that really matter. As Rayburn says at one point, `We're not curing cancer here.' But to those to whom life has been reduced to that minute and a half to which they still cling, the game can be everything. And it is just that unhealthy obsession that Scott examines in this film, that comparatively insignificant moment that in the obsessive mind becomes an episode of monumental importance that finally distorts any semblance of reality the individual may have left. What's truly frightening is that upon close scrutiny, in Renard there is much with which many viewers will be able to relate in one way or another: The anger, the frustration and perhaps the inability to let go of that minute and a half, even when it threatens to become more than just a pleasant memory, but an unhealthy lifeline to another place and another time that, in reality, may never have existed in the first place. It's like a search for self-esteem by the has-been-who-never-was, who can neither realize nor accept it's elusiveness. As Renard says to Richie, `Baseball is better than life, because it's fair. You hit a sacrifice fly and it doesn't count against your average.' An ideal that has forever eluded Renard; in his life, he's never been able to `give himself up for the team' and get anything in return for it.

As Renard, De Niro gives an explosive performance that at first glance may seem to have a bit of Travis Bickle and Max Cady in it-- which in fact it does-- though upon closer inspection, Renard is a unique character. Those with a disturbed mind may have traits in common, as these characters De Niro has portrayed certainly do; but De Niro has successfully given each of them an individual personality, and when viewed side by side, the differences are readily apparent. Bickle may be a sociopath, Cady a cold blooded killer; but Renard is a man who was just never able to get a handle on his life and has allowed his obsessions to dictate the choices he has made along the way. De Niro is simply a master of his craft, with the ability to make his characters so real that a performance like this one is often overlooked; this is Oscar worthy work for which he never received the acclaim he was due. His Renard is so like someone you would run into in your everyday life that in retrospect, it's scary. But it's the kind of performance we've come to expect from De Niro, and as usual, he does not disappoint.

Wesley Snipes, as well, gives a solid performance as Rayburn that is one of his best ever, which is not surprising when you consider with whom he was working. If you study De Niro's films, you may discover a common thread running through them with regard to his co-stars. De Niro has the ability to make those with whom he is working better; and it's something that stays with them forever after. Consider Christopher Walken and Meryl Streep before `The Deer Hunter,' or Ed Harris before `Jacknife.' Certainly they were exceptional talents before, but they have arguably been better since. And Snipes is no exception. Nor is Benicio Del Toro (Recipient of the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for `Traffic'), who gives a memorable turn here as Rayburn's rival outfielder, Juan Primo.

The supporting cast includes Patti D'Arbanville (Ellen),Ellen Barkin (Jewel), John Leguizamo (Manny), Chris Mulkey (Tim), Dan Butler (Garrity) and Brandon Hammond (Sean). A thought provoking thriller that gives some real insight into the cause and effect of the psyche of human nature, `The Fan' is like an open wound that may hit too close to home for some. And to dismiss this as just a `baseball' movie or another `action' flick would be a mistake, for there is much more here than meets the eye. In the end, those who pay attention will ultimately reap the rewards it proffers. I rate this one 9/10.