Bull Durham

It is nice to see a movie that attracts more than one kind of audience. This is a comedy, then again a love story. This can be placed in the baseball genre as well as a coming of age drama. Most movies claim to be one or the other and sometimes fail to be. Then again, when a good movie hits a homerun it can not only become a money maker and a box office smash, it can also become timeless. Before they became giants of Hollywood, Kevin Costner, Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins stars in this great movie as some of the most interesting, yet simple characters. Costner plays an aging baseball player who meets with rookie, soon to be great major league pitcher Tim Robbins. Out of the rafters comes Susan Surandon who, in her own may, is a Muse of the religion of baseball. Together, the three introduce three different worlds upon the audience. Each are believable characters even though they are in a way, fantasy like. A great story with a perfect ending, Bull Durham is one of those hard to find movies that is a crowd pleaser with just about every audience out there.

I remember the first time I saw this film. I had won tickets from a local radio station and I saw it at a private screening at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. I remember as I was watching it that it was one of the greatest experiences I had in a movie in a long time. This film is not only a great sports film, but it is one of the great all around films I have ever seen. This film has it all from romance to comedy to witty dialogue. Susan Sarandon, Kevin Costner and Tim Robbins all brought Ron Shelton's script to life and the three of them displayed some of the greatest chemistry ever captured on film. This film is a timeless classic.

First of I have to say i'm from the UK, i've never played baseball seen a baseball game or have any ideas to the finer rules of baseball but this will not stop you enjoying this film. This film is about a way of life and you can enjoy it in the same way as you can watch a film about a great explorer without ever having left your own country. For Crash, Nuke, Annie and all the other characters in here baseball is a way of life not a sport and it is to be respected and in some cases worshipped. For me the best scene in this movie comes in the pool hall at the end with three generations of baseball player we know that one day nuke, will be in crash's position and that crash will eventually be in the old guys position it's the baseball way of life. Howevever it's a way of life that's changing and this is shown in the almost forlorn at times shot's of the ballpark and main characters, like the lady says you have to respect the ball player who's just trying to finish out the season.

Direction, script and performances (Costner's best performance ever I think even over Field of Dreams and the Untouchables) are superb see this movie you wont regret it. 8/10

"Bull Durham" is one of those engaging sports films that can be enjoyed no matter if one isn't a fan of the sport in question - in this case, baseball. There's all the love in the world for this great American pastime, but there's also some interesting and literate discussions going on all the time in this smart and witty comedy, as well as some memorable characters whom we like and find easy to watch.

Kevin Costner plays "Crash" Davis, a veteran minor league catcher who's hired by the Durham Bulls to act as a mentor to their new pitcher Ebby LaLoosh (Tim Robbins). Ebby is in need of some direction, as he may be truly talented but has ego and discipline problems. At the same time, sexy Annie Savoy (Susan Sarandon), the Bulls' loyal groupie, takes an interest in Ebby as she makes a habit of hooking up with one young player every season and helping the man to mature. Naturally, some sparks fly as the two guys both get attracted to Annie.

Writer / director Ron Shelton truly knows the territory, having been a minor league baseball player himself, although he doesn't in truth feature a lot of game action. His dialogue is often very funny and often very profane. A lot of humour comes from Annies' manipulation of the naive Ebby, whom she nicknames "Nuke" and has him do things like wear a garter, thinking this will improve his game. And while the film does get serious at times, it never becomes too maudlin. As was said previously, the attraction comes from watching three intriguing characters and three fine performances. With fine support by Trey Wilson and Robert Wuhl, Costner, Sarandon, and Robbins make the most of the material. There's also some endearing goofiness from the real-life "Clown Prince of Baseball", a man named Max Patkin. And to top it all off, there are some very sexy scenes in this thing, especially towards the end. All in all, this likable story has a little something for everybody, and is well worth a viewing.

Eight out of 10.

This is unfairly forgotten sports comedy . It's far better than the more famous and overrated "Major league". I'm not exactly a fan of sport comedies , but this one is one of the best I've seen.

The movie really heavily on the trio of stars : Kevin Costner ("Dancing with the wolves") , Susan Sarandon ("Dead man walking") and Tim Robbins ("The Shawshank Redemption"). Each of them shines here. Costner is charming and very likable as the smart and bitter old baseball player. Sarandon is incredibly funny as the woman obsessed with baseball and sex . Robbins is very convincing as the incredibly talented , but stuck up young baseball player.

I like that this movie doesn't follow a typical "from zero to hero" story that is so often (TOO often) seen in this type of movies. Instead we got here a story about love triangle between two baseball players and baseball fan . The movie is a character comedy and it's fun to see how the characters interact with each other and change during the movie. There is great chemistry between them.

I love the wisecracks from Costner's mouth , Sarandon is HOT and Robbins is adorable when he throws into the bull.

There is some great music here . Soundtrack is full of great songs like: Bill Haley and The Comets "Rock around the clock" , Edith Piaf "Non , je ne regrette rien" and "La vie en rose" , Ike and Tina Turner "I idolize you" , The Everly brothers "When I will be loved" , Los lobos "I got loaded" and Joe Cocker "Woman loves a man".

The only thing that I didn't like is the religious approach to the baseball. I'm not a fan of baseball and I couldn't really relate to it, but the baseball fans probably will be happy.

A very pleasant , charming and enjoyable comedy. Good way to spend your time. I give it 7/10.