I don't like baseball. And I _really_ don't like major league baseball. I find it dull, trivial, over-priced, self-important and self-obsessed. When the season was cancelled two years ago because of the players' strike, I felt a rush of hope. Perhaps America would stop clinging to a sport that was clearly in its decadence and raze the stadiums to make way for libraries, hospitals or even playgrounds where children could play baseball in the real spirit of the game.

Going into THE FAN, I checked my score. THE FAN is about baseball, so that was one strike. Robert De Niro is the lead and I haven't liked his last few pictures. Here he plays a stalker, which he's done before. Another strike. And the idea of a fan stalking a ball player just seemed so uninspired. Suffice to say, I wasn't expecting to like this movie much at all.

But I left the theater well pleased. It wasn't because THE FAN did anything super special. It was simply good at what it did.

Gil Renard (Robert De Niro) is a hunting-goods salesman who *loves* the San Fransisco Giants and worships their new, $40 million center fielder, Bobby Rayburn (Wesley Snipes). The season doesn't go as planned for Bobby and life doesn't go as planned for Gil. As Gil's world falls apart, he is left only with his fandom, which propels him toward some, um, hands-on interaction with Bobby Rayburn's career.

THE FAN will remind you of a lot of different flicks. The overall look of the movie is reminiscent of the football thriller, THE LAST BOY SCOUT, which was made by THE FAN's director, Tony Scott. Gil's behavior smacks of De Niro's loner in TAXI DRIVER and Michael Douglas's wigged-out engineer in FALLING DOWN. And the cast of characters seems assembled from every baseball movie ever made: the star player, his agent, his rival teammate, the radio announcers up in the booth, and of course the fan.

Despite the sense that I had seen this movie before, THE FAN held my attention. It didn't rivet me to the seat -- it held my attention. It was well-paced, nicely scripted and convincingly realized. It was a rather thoughtful movie, too. THE FAN puts forth a some interesting ideas about major league baseball, professional sports in general, fandom, fame and nostalgia. You don't get hit over the head with these ideas -- they're borne out through the story.

The producers of THE FAN really got their dream cast. Who better to play the nut in the bleachers than Robert De Niro? Who better to play the glam ball-star than Wesley Snipes? Any other actors in these roles would have changed the movie completely, probably for the worse.

De Niro is such a natural ... maybe too natural. In a couple parts I thought he was "doing Bob" (like Jack Nicholson "does Jack"). But I really can't complain about his performance. Gil Renard is not your stone-cold, off-the-rocker psychopath. He's a deeply troubled man whose complexities unfold before our eyes -- I felt for him. De Niro made it work and THE FAN is just one more example of his prowess. And let me tell you, the f-word was *made* to be spoken by Robert De Niro.

Hey, I've got to mention Benicio Del Toro, too. If you've seen THE USUAL SUSPECTS you'll remember him as Fenster, the tall, goofy hoodlum who slurred his words. In THE FAN he plays Juan Primo, the Hispanic ball-player who wins the spotlight away from Bobby Rayburn. I could not believe it was Del Torro in both roles. Fenster was a scrawny, elastic sort of guy. Juan Primo is a mountain of muscle topped with a golden beard. Del Torro must have had a trainer working with him. (I noticed De Niro had an unusual trainer of his own -- there's a credit for a "stalking consultant.") While the characters he played in THE USUAL SUSPECTS and THE FAN were profoundly different, Del Torro's performance was exactly the same -- totally excellent, totally convincing.

Other good things in the movie: John Leguizamo. He plays Manny, Bobby Rayburn's agent. Whenever I see him, I forget he's an actor; I believe he _is_ the character. The cinematography is nice, thanks to Dariusz Wolski who also did THE CROW. The soundtrack works well, too, with emphasis alternating between the Rolling Stones and Nine Inch Nails.

My only complaint with THE FAN is that it is neither terribly original nor super exciting. But it is a solid flick. Not extraordinary, but above average. Even if it is about baseball.

previous | subscribe | movies | next

Mike's Midnight Movie Reviews
© copyright 1995-1998 Michael J. Doyle