Bull Durham (1988)Starring: Kevin Costner, Susan Sarandon, Tim Robbins, Trey Wilson, Robert Wuhl
I was in Dick Smith Electronics a couple of weeks ago and spotted a copy of Bull Durham in the bargain bin going for $2. It was the only film in the bin that I had heard of, but I'd recently been listening to a 3RRR podcast with Tony Wilson and Tony Martin where Wilson was saying he'd recently rewatched Bull Durham and thought it was the best "sportsman who is not quite good enough" movies he'd seen, so I figured it was worth a shot for $2.
Annie (Sarandon) is a small town baseball groupie with a difference. Every season she takes on board one player from her beloved Durham Bulls to share her bed, her incredible knowledge of the game and her unique brand of amateur psychology, and season after season this player under her wing goes on to have the season of their career. This year she has her sights set on young up-and-comer Ebby 'Nuke' LaLoosh (Robbins). Nuke is a very exciting young prospect, a pitcher with "a million dollar arm and a five cent brain". For that reason the Bulls bring in veteran minor league catcher 'Crash' Davis (Costner) to mentor the young firebrand. As the cynical veteran teaches the brash peacock the intricacies of the game, Annie finds herself torn between her commitment to Nuke and her desire for Crash.
I don't know if there is a truer slice of Americana than the Hollywood baseball movie. There have been a lot of movies made about baseball, probably more than any other sport. Within the sub-genre that is the baseball movie there exists a more specific genre that is the Kevin Costner baseball movie. The combination of America's national pastime and Costner's southern drawl seems to have been a match made in heaven and has resulted in a number of films: Chasing Dreams, Bull Durham, Field of Dreams, For the Love of the Game and The Upside of Anger (I was working at Blockbuster when this one came out and had to laugh when after a bit of an absence the slightly older Costner returned our screens in a romantic comedy in which he played, wait for it... a retired baseball player).
This film takes a while to lure you in, but once you've settled in to the tone of the film you'll enjoy the ride. Ron Shelton's screenplay, which drew on his experiences as a minor league baseballer, won a number of awards and earned him a Best Original Screenplay Oscar nomination (it was pipped by Ronald Bass's screenplay for Rain Man). It is a very well written film. It's got brilliant characters, with the main characters supported by a brilliant gallery of oddball supporting characters. It's got a lot of heart, but also some quirky humour. Like the best sports movies, it is not really about the sport. It is about Annie and her lifestyle, and how the arrival of Crash makes her reevaluate things. It is about the mentoring relationship of Crash and Nuke. It is about Crash's frustrations at a career of being not quite good enough, never having the physical abilities to match his mental understanding of the game.
As good as the screenplay is though, it is not perfect. Especially early on there is some rather contrived dialogue which really doesn't fit the tone of the film. The most jarring is Crash's celebrated statement of his beliefs to Annie:
Crash: I don't believe in quantum physics when it comes to matters of the heart.
Annie: What do you believe in, then?
Crash: Well, I believe in the soul, the cock, the pussy, the small of a woman's back, the hanging curve ball, high fibre, good scotch, that the novels of Susan Sontag are self-indulgent, overrated crap. I believe Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone. I believe there ought to be a constitutional amendment outlawing Astroturf and the designated hitter. I believe in the sweet spot, soft-core pornography, opening your presents on Christmas morning rather than Christmas Eve and I believe in long, slow, deep, soft, wet kisses that last three days.
With that he leaves and everyone in the audience thinks, "What the hell has that got to do with anything?" Shelton somewhat sheepishly admitted later that that glory speech was a shameless ploy to lure a big name actor. It failed to work with Jeff Bridges or Don Johnson, who both turned down the role, but it worked on Costner.
The performances of the trio of stars, Costner, Sarandon and Robbins really makes the film work. Sarandon strikes the perfect balance of desirability and tragedy in her portrayal of an aging southern belle, who one critic described as half Blanche DuBois and half Mrs. Robinson. Robbins' goofiness enables the viewer to look past his brash arrogance and accept what could otherwise have been an unlikeable. Both Robbins and Sarandon have gone on the record as saying that this is the favourite movie that each of them worked on in their careers. I do wonder though whether that stance has changed given the recent breakup of their long marriage (they met on the set of Bull Durham). Costner turns in arguably the performance of his career in this roll as a cynical veteran balancing his desire for Nuke to reach his potential with his frustration in knowing that despite the fact that he deserved success more than Nuke does, it's the youngster who will make it to the big time. As Tony Wilson suggested, it is a wonderful exploration of the sportsman who is just not quite good enough, a wonderful player in the minors who never made it to the majors.
Bull Durham is a good, fun movie, with enough substance that it is not just fluff.
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