Bull Durham (1988)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Ron Shelton

Writer (WGA):

Ron Shelton (written by)

Release Date:

15 June 1988 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance | Sport

Tagline:

A Major League Love Story in a Minor League Town

Plot:

A fan who has an affair with one minor-league baseball player each season meets an up-and-coming pitcher and the experienced catcher assigned to him.

Plot Keywords:

Pitcher | Baseball | Minor League Baseball | Grab Ass | Baseball Has Been

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 7 wins & 2 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Tue. July 14

8:00 PM

WGNAMER

Cast

Kevin Costner	...	Crash Davis
Susan Sarandon	...	Annie Savoy
Tim Robbins	...	Ebby Calvin 'Nuke' LaLoosh
Trey Wilson	...	Joe Riggins
Robert Wuhl	...	Larry Hockett
William O'Leary	...	Jimmy
David Neidorf	...	Bobby
Danny Gans	...	Deke
Tom Silardi	...	Tony
Lloyd T. Williams	...	Mickey McFee (as Lloyd Williams)
Rick Marzan	...	Jose
George Buck	...	Mr. Laloosh
Jenny Robertson	...	Millie
Gregory Avellone	...	Doc (as Greg Avelone)
Garland Bunting	...	Teddy Cullinane (as Carey 'Garland' Bunting)

Runtime:

108 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:L | Australia:M | Argentina:16 | Singapore:M18 | New Zealand:M | UK:15 (original rating) | UK:18 (video rating) (1990) | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:11 | USA:R | West Germany:12 | Spain:13 | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia)

Filming Locations:

Arlington, Texas, USA

Company:

The Mount Company

Trivia:

The bar scene takes place in Mitch's Tavern on Hillsborough Street in Raleigh, North Carolina, across the street from NC State University. Today, in Mitch's there are a few mementos from the movie: framed film still of Crash Davis and Annie Savoy (autographed by Susan Sarandon and Kevin Cosnter) and glass door which Nuke Laloosh breaks is framed. The furniture, fixtures, and layout of the tavern largely remain the same as they were in 1988.

Goofs:

Continuity: Before the fight outside the bar, a blond girl in a white shirt and jeans joins the crowd, then follows Crash out of the bar, then is seen with the crowd again.

Quotes:

Ebby Calvin LaLoosh: Ooh, I've heard of stuff like this.
Annie Savoy: Yeah? Have you heard of Walt Whitman?
Ebby Calvin LaLoosh: No. Who's he play for?

Movie Connections:

Featured in Sex at 24 Frames Per Second (2003) (V)

Soundtrack:

NON, JE NE REGRETTE RIEN

Makes ambitious promises to show baseball as a religion, and like sex, but then resorts to sport movie and love triangle cliches.

Baseball groupie Susan Sarandon only sleeps with one player a season: Tim Robbins and Kevin Costner both want to be that player. Except Costner refuses to compete - and now his assignment of getting star pitcher Robbins to buckle down and concentrate on Baseball is made much harder...

It starts well, with Sarandon's voiceover making these big promises to liken baseball to sex and religion, with a church choir playing in the background as the camera looks at various shrines in her room. I was so excited seeing this that when the movie turned out to be just another love triangle losing-team-triumphs sports movie, I was very disappointed.

There is still sex and superstition in it, but the film doesn't really fulfill its promise to demonstrate to me how baseball could be a religion to anybody except the players. Here's why:

1) The only two non-player characters we meet are a slut who sleeps with all and any of the players and Susan Sarandon, who only sleeps with one player a season, and is always in the power position, so she's more like a sexual predator. In introducing actual sex, the screenwriters have made it impossible for us to see how baseball could compare. We get the sense that sleeping with the men, and watching them play baseball are two completely different interests for these women.

2) The story is too small-scale to fulfill Sarandon's promises. We never get these global, grande feeling that baseball means more than just hitting balls and boredom. We only experience these few characters.

3) The other reason its not very effective is the screenplay is not well-focused. It meanders all over the place - giving us nondescript scenes of baseball, travelling on the road.

4) Costner's storyline is almost forgotten. Its just badly written. He never goes out of his way to pull Robbins in line because the love triangle interferes.

5) They pretty much assume that just showing us some Baseball will make us moan with ecstacy - but you pretty much need to already bring a love of Baseball to this flick to do that.

2/5