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| Courtesy of Warner Bros. Tommy Lee Jones starred as Ty Cobb in 1994's underperforming "Cobb." |
Unlike many sports films, "Bull Durham" does not let the game slip into the background so it can solely concentrate on relationships. This is a movie about people who live and breathe baseball and it is strengthened by writer director Ron Shelton's extraordinary knowledge of the game.
Through-out the movie, scenes set in the dugout, bus, or clubhouse are second to none in authenticity and help make the audience feel as if they were a member of the Durham Bulls.
Baseball has been our national pastime for over a hundred years and has been the subject of a countless movies. Popular topics have included player bio-pics ("Cobb" and "The Pride of the Yankees"), the Black Sox World Series scandal ("Eight Men Out"), players seeking one last shot at greatness ("The Natural") and even ghostly games played in corn fields ("Field of Dreams").
Lately, with the exception of "A League of Their Own," a look at a '40s women's baseball league, and "The Sandlot," the story of young neighborhood friends who spend a summer playing the game, baseball movies have been very lackluster.
One disappointing trend has been the movies dedicated to the wonderful achievements of youngsters on the major league level. In "Rookie of the Year," the perennially weak Chicago Cubs receive a boost from a 10-year-old fan who recovers from a broken arm with the ability to strike out everyone from Barry Bonds to Bobby Bonilla.
"Angels in the Outfield" deals with a young fan who uses angels to help the Angels in their drive for the championship.
And in "Little Big League," Billy Heyward gets to live every youngsters' dream when he inherits the Minnesota Twins from his grandfather. Not content with just owning the team or how the manager is doing his job, Billy takes it upon himself to fire the manager and hire himself.
Movies like "The Bad News Bears" show that it is possible to make entertaining movies about youngsters playing the game, but for it to work the playing level must be somewhere below the big leagues.
"Friends" star Matt LeBlanc got into the baseball groove with the quickly forgotten ape comedy "Ed." In it, LeBlanc performed alongside an incredibly talented baseball-playing hairy beast.
Another inferior baseball movie to recently hit the theatres is the Robert DeNiro thriller "The Fan." In the drama, DeNiro plays an obsessed fan who stalks a baseball star played by Wesley Snipes. Directed by Tony Scott, the picture is very predictable and although it tries to emphasize its baseball aspects, the story doesn't work.
The "Major League" series of baseball films that started off strongly but has tailed off badly with the ensuing sequels. The first picture was a mildly inspiring look at the cellar-dwelling Indians making a run for the pennant. "Major League" benefited from the Indians' roster of interesting personalities and contained some funny moments and memorable lines.
The scene where Charlie Sheen enters the game to a rousing rendition of "Wild Thing" is something that all little leaguers across the country dream about. But the franchise has fallen into the bland and boring sequel rut with the two follow-ups.
In the past few years, due to the players' strike and length of the games, baseball has lost a great deal of its appeal to fans. This is likely one of the big reasons for the less-than-stellar baseball films than have been called up to the big screen. But if Hollywood can find a few people who believe that there should be "a constitutional amendment outlawing astroturf and the designated hitter" to make movies, then all will be well for baseball films.
04-20-98
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