Bull Durham (1988)

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

On the surface, "Pastime" might seem similar, but "Pastime" is the best baseball movie, and "Bull Durham" is the worst. I love baseball movies, love Kevin Costner, love "Field of Dreams", but this is the worst. It smells like a pathetic attempt to teach mediocre people to be content with mediocrity.

"Ebby Calvin LaLoosh" (Tim Robbins) is a promising young baseball pitcher for the Durham Bulls of the Carolina League who has an awesome fastball but suffers from a severe lack of control. As a result a veteran catcher named "Crash Davis" (Kevin Costner) is sent down to the Carolina League to somehow develop him into a first-class, major league pitcher. Along with that the Bull's biggest fan, "Annie Savoy" (Susan Sarandon) takes Ebbie into her home to teach him about sex, life and baseball--but not necessarily in that order. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this was a pretty good comedy which benefited from the baseball background to a large extent. I especially liked the performance of Susan Sarandon who was both funny and sexy at the same time. Likewise, both Kevin Costner and Tim Robbins also performed rather well. In short, I thought that this was a pretty good movie and I have rated it accordingly. Above average.

Continuing my plan to watch every Kevin Costner movie in order, I come to 1988's Bull Durham Plot In A Paragraph: Annie Savoy (Susan Sarandon) a baseball fan who takes a new lover each season, finds her life complicated when Crash Davis (KC) an aging catcher is brought to the The Bull Durham's to provide some help for "Nuke" LaLoosh (Tim Robbins) a hot young pitcher who has a great fastball but no control or handle on life. If there was a list of the best baseball movies of all time, Bull Durham would be up there. Alongside movies such as The Natural, Pride Of The Yankees and of course KC's classic Field Of Dreams, it remains one of the best-loved baseball movies of all time, yet it doesn't really connect with me despite near perfect performances from the three leads. KC is feeling confident after the success of The Untouchables and it shows in Bull Durham he's a star in the making here, and boy does he know it. Having skyrocketed from near obscurity to fame, Bull Durham gives KC and opportunity to be flashy!! Something he could not do when playing Elliot Ness, and the role of Crash shows a different side to him. It's a role he really seeks his teeth into, and with this performance he emerges as a true star.I think Surandon should have been nominated for an Oscar for her work here. Her Whitman-quoting, sex-positive Southern belle just oozes confidence and sexuality.Sarandon and Robbins have been an off-screen couple ever since this movie. Sarandon is older than both her co-stars (at the time of filming, she was 41, Costner was 32, and Robbins was 29), and this is a rare instance in which an over-40 actress is allowed the opportunity to act as a sex symbol. Although there is obvious chemistry between the two, it is surprising that brighter sparks fly between her and Costner. It's a good romantic triangle, though, with plenty of sexual tension. There are some nice quiet little scenes that for me are some of the best in the movie, as when a player is called into the office and told his contract is not being picked up.As sports movies go, this one is defiantly unconventional. The genre formula calls for the film to end with a big game, but that doesn't happen here. Instead, Nuke is promoted to the majors, and Crash (his job done) is released. There is no big championship game, no home run or anything. In Bull Durham the baseball is actually the background to the love triangle.

This is right there with The Natural and Long Gone as one of the three best baseball movies ever made(Ken Burns Doc as well if you were 'counting-it').It's perfect casting all-around. Susan Sarandon, Tim Robbins, Kevin Costner, Trey Wilson, Robert Wuhl, and Jenny Robertson all deserve a mention. All the actors do a great job here.The film captures the small town feel, and to a somewhat regretful yet satisfying degree in terms of movie-enjoyment, the insignificance of minor league baseball.The love triangle between the three stars acts as the backbone for a hilarious script. The road-trip moments, the bar scenes, and the baseball action all seem quite believable/real, and the ending, while somber, works as well.Infinitely re-watchable, funny film about America's pastime, at what for me as a fan is a level that is just as intriguing if not more interesting and intimate than the "big" leagues. Truly great sports movies are few and far in between. This is a pillar.87/100