Review of Bull Durham (1988) by Jonny P — 14 Jun 2014

Many have called "Bull Durham" the best sports movie ever but that's a load of... "bull." I look at true sports stories like "Miracle" and "The Blind Side," or fictional sports stories like "Hoosiers" and "Rocky," and I wonder how anybody can be impressed with this film.

It was a good movie, but was a big disappointment since I was expecting "the best sports movie ever." Now that I have been clear on my stance in the contention for being "the best sports movie ever," there are a lot of great things to be said about this film.

First, the film offers a lot of insight into the psyche of a baseball pitcher. Kevin Costner is the perfect strategist as he teaches a hotheaded pitcher not to over think his pitches. He was cast for his athleticism and actually hit two home runs with the cameras rolling.

He played this role to perfection, but the love story and Susan Sarandon's character just got in the way. I suppose that there has to be some x-factor to create competition between the players (other than their egos), but there is so much sex that it became unappealing.

If I was expecting a romantic comedy, it would have been one thing. But when you are expecting "the best sports movie ever," it seems like there should be more sports. Next, this young Tim Robbins was very memorable.

I never realized that he was so tall, but his 6'5 stature played well with his lightning-fast-but-erratic-pitching-accuracy. I also think it is cool that the writer was a minor league baseball player and brought his own experiences into this screenplay.

The realism is there - it is just unfortunate that so much of this film took place off of the field and in the bedroom. I would definitely recommend "Bull Durham" to any sports fan, as long as they are prepared for the sexual content and are not expecting "the best sports movie ever.

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