Tim Robbins Movie:

Editorial Review:
Bull Durham is about minor league baseball. It's also about romance, sex, poetry, metaphysics, and talent--though not necessarily in that order. Susan Sarandon plays a loopy lady who just loves America's national pastime--and the men who play it. At the opening of every season, she attaches herself to a promising rookie and guides him through the season. Unfortunately, the player she bestows her favors upon does not really deserve it. She knows it, and veteran Kevin Costner knows it. Her choice, a dim bulb played for laughs by Tim Robbins, is the only one who doesn't know it. The film, directed by its writer, Ron Shelton, a former minor league player, is rich in subtle detail. There are Edith Piaf records playing in the background, fast-talking managers, and minor characters as developed as the leads. Sarandon's retro-'50s outfits make you think she's just another bimbo, not an English teacher very much in control of her life. And Costner's clear-eyed, slightly vitriolic performance is devastatingly sexy and keenly witty. The love scenes, though tasteful, are almost as humorous as they are hot. Sarandon's character likes to tie her players up and expand their horizons by reading Walt Whitman to them, "'cause a guy will listen to anything if he thinks it's foreplay." How can you not love a movie with such a wicked sense of humor? --Rochelle O'Gorman

Bull Durham [Region 2] Reviews:
Great movie, lousy copy.
2009-12-12 - This was a fun movie and would have been even better if I had received a decent copy. The original movie was made by MGM. My particular VHS copy was made by ORION and it is a terrible copy indeed. To start off with it was recorded at extended play. Can you imagine? I don't even record my own stuff at standard play. And the sound was terrible, losing it in parts. The picture was snowy and the tracking not on track if you get my drift. I had never seen this movie before and Orion ruined my first viewing. I guess I will have to try again. Beware of old movies that say they are new. Not all copies are created equal.

Maybe it's because I'm just not that into sports...
2008-10-20 - I must be missing something here, but I just don't find this film as universally brilliant as so many make it out to be. Maybe it's that I am not a sports fan, especially not baseball (honestly, when Susan Sarandon mentions in her opening monologue that baseball is never boring I actually laughed out loud because I thought it was the films first joke), but I was actually really looking forward to this movie and it failed me on many levels. I should have known that Costner was going to ruin a few things (why is it that his only great performance came so late in his career; `The Upside of Anger'?) because he is such a dreadfully boring actor, but I have been known to like his movies despite his performances (`JFK', `Dances with Wolves') so I didn't really think he would totally destroy my hopes of enjoying this film. I mean, I adore Susan Sarandon and find Tim Robbins engaging and even fascinating at times, so I was really looking forward to this.

Sarandon and Robbins are Oscar worthy; the film as a whole is not.

Sarandon plays Annie Savoy, a baseball enthusiast who picks one player per year to invest herself into, forming a relationship that will hopefully give them a strong year. She loves baseball and she loves me, and so she has found a way to infuse both of them. Ebby Calvin LaLoosh is the newest and freshest thing on the field, a wild pitcher who has an arm touched by god but lacks control. Crash Davis, a legend in his town, is brought in to help reign in that arm. Savoy also decides to make LaLoosh her personal project, forming a strangely intriguing triangle.

The script is funny and witting in scenes, but tends to lose me in others. It just seems very all over the place. It calls to mind one of the wittier lines in the movie, where Millie tells Annie that LaLoosh "`blanks' like he pitches, all over the place". The script is like that too.

The acting is also like that...in fact the entire movie is really all over the place.

Susan Sarandon is delightfully charming as Annie. She delivers a solid comedic performance that is rich with sentiment and believability (we actually believe that she thinks she is making a difference). Tim Robbins is hysterical as LaLoosh, delivering a very strong performance in his portrayal of an overly confident youngster trapped in an adult's game. Kevin Costner is boring as all get out. I just don't see the charm here, at all. He delivers every line in this monotone and stagnant manner, but I know many people would disagree so whatever.

In fact a lot of people will disagree with this review.

Whatever.

I'm not saying that this is a bad movie, and at times I really enjoyed it, but it's just a little all over the place. It works one minute, doesn't the next; it's brisk one minute, drags the next; it's witty one minute and convoluted the next.

If you are a fan of baseball or sports movies in general then you will probably like this. A lot of devoted baseball fans claim this to be the definitive baseball movie. I have honestly seen better, but that's just me. It's decent and I can't say I didn't enjoy some of it; and Robbins and Sarandon are just wonderful, but as a whole I just was not as impressed as so many others were. Oh well, one movie cannot please everyone.

a good classical 80's romantic baseball movie.........
2008-07-22 - a fun and exiting movie. but i would'nt recommend it for the whole family because of it's rating......

If you like baseball, Bull Duram is a don't miss
2007-08-07 - Bull Duram is one of the top Baseball Movies out there. But it's not just a baseball movie. The development of the love triangle between Susan Sarandon, Tim Robbins and Kevin Costner gives the movie a nice story line. There is also a good bit of humor thrown into the mix. Bull Duram is a winner

the lady and baseball
2007-08-06 - Annie Savoy (Susan Sarandon), a groupie who has affairs with a minor-league baseball player each season, meets two men, LaLoosh (Tim Robbins) and Crash (Kevin Costner), the experienced catched assigned to LaLoosh. A comical story about baseball and sex. After all, "what else is there?"

Great roles for Sarandon, Robbins and Costner. Can't imagine anyone else playing these roles. Robbins is excellent as the dim "Nuke" LaLoosh.

Even if you don't know anything about baseball (like me), this drama is still decent, enjoyable... and pretty much a classic.