Bull Durham (1988)

I know the idea of watching a Kevin Costner movie verges on nauseating, and when you add in the idea of watching one about baseball that is not Field of Dreams, it is hard not to pass out. Nonetheless, anyone who is slightly younger and has not seen Bull Durham needs to realize that this was made in Costner’s heyday, before Waterworld and The Postman, back when he made good movies like Robin Hood and Dances with Wolves. I have heard some people say that this was the best baseball movie they have ever seen. While for me, that could not be further from the truth (Sandlot, by the way), Bull Durham is actually pretty good. Costner plays an old farmhand at the end of his career on the verge of setting the minor league homerun the record, a dubious milestone. Tim Robbins is the young hotshot pitcher earmarked for the big leagues, and Susan Sarandon plays the townie who loves the team and the players who are on it. I actually did like this movie, the baseball is not as much a main focus as I would like, but it is still pretty good. Costner is perfect for the role of a seasoned catcher in the twilight of his career, and Robins plays the gawky bonus baby really well. One problem I have with most baseball movies is that half the time, the actors look like orangutans when they throw the ball or swing the bat. For the most part, this Bull Durham avoids that. You can tell the Costner must have played at some point in his life, he looks like he could actually have played in the minors; Robbins, I’m not so sure about. At times, it seems like he might be throwing like a girl, but for someone one who does not believe in traditional American values, like baseball, I suppose it could be worse. Honestly, I did not really care for Susan Sarandon’s character in this movie, she comes off very preachy, but that is how I find her in real life, so maybe it is just me. In the lexicon of sports movies, I would not put Bull Durham in the top ten, but I do believe that it is worth mentioning. My wife did not care to watch the film, but her feelings about Robbins’ and Sarandon’s politics, and Costner’s aptitude for making horrible movies, might have prejudiced her against it unfairly. I am glad to have seen it if for no other reason than that I have heard a lot about it from people who like sports movies. I give Bull Durham 3 half stars.