The North Carolina Bull Durham minor-league baseball team is not doing too
well. The team's fortunes seem poised to change with the acquisition of hot
young prospect Ebby Calvin LaLoosh (Tim Robbins), a pitcher whose 'Nuke'
nickname comes from the strength with which he throws the ball. 'Nuke' is
too undisciplined and wild a player though, so team managers Joe 'Skip'
Riggins (Trey Wilson) and Larry Hockett (Robert Wuhl) hire veteran
minor-league catcher Crash Davis (Kevin Costner) to become a mentor to
'Nuke'. This will be harder than it seems on Davis because 'Nuke' is the
object of affection (that's
sexual affection) from local
baseball groupie and good luck charm Annie Savoy (Susan Sarandon), a smart
and sexy woman for whom Davis also feels a strong attraction.
As the season progresses 'Nuke' implodes and explodes (on and off the mound),
the Bull Durham team experiences a winning streak and the see-saw dreams of
its players (who can only dream and talk about becoming good-enough to make
it to 'The Show') serves as a counter-balance to their everyday lifestyle. A
lifestyle in which baseball isn't everything; life goes on for these men
talented-enough only to play minor-league ball (and the women who love them).
Yet at the same time baseball is everything for these characters.
Sandwiched between (a) the desire of 'Nuke' to become an MLB star, (b) Davis'
desire for Annie to love him for who he is and (c) Annie's desire to use her
'gifts' to inspire the player she picks at the start of season lies a
personality thread. A thread that baseball fulfills but doesn't quite
satiate, which is where human company (and sex) comes into the lives of these
two men and woman.
If "Field of Dreams" (which we're also reviewing on DVD today) is Hollywood's
beatification of the sport of baseball as America's pastime then "Bull
Durham" is its younger and fast-talking slick cousin. One that
affectionately studies baseball's mythology as its lived, played and
experienced by the men that ESPN and Fox Sports Network never bother to cover
or follow year-round. Crash Davis knew he was good-enough to break his own
record, yet his love of the game (or embarrassment for knowing that breaking
the record meant he had been in minor-league ball instead of being over at
'The Show') prevented him from showing-off or trying to earn people's
adulation. Likewise, 'Nuke' LaLoosh's cocky and selfish attitude hid the
wealth of joy that being part of a team (and having a mentor of the caliber
of Crash Davis) meant to his game, one that eventually took him where he
wanted to go while leaving behind in Annie Savoy the type of human connection
that grounded him to the reality of his frailties (best exemplified in Ch.6,
when what appears to be bondage sex turns, to LaLoosh's surprise, into an
improptu Walt Whitman poetry reading).
Before you think that I've morphed into George Will and I'm pulling
philosophical euphemisms out of my ass, let me assure that "Bull Durham" is,
at its core, a very funny movie. It's just not in the same vein of sports
humor as "Angels in the Outfield" (special-effects driven kiddie humor) or
"Major League" (raunchy adult jokes). "Bull Durham" is loaded with dramatic,
realistic and personality-driven humor with three likable and well-developed
characters who just happen to take baseball more seriously (as a profession
as well as a lifestyle). The best are by far Crash's monologues to himself
while he's at bat (Ch.8) or his advice to 'Nuke' Laloosh to start working on
his list of clichés (Ch.17), both of which are as resonant and funny parables
about minor-league players as they are about the stars that will be playing
on Tuesday's MLB All-Star Game.
The chemistry between the leads is terrific (particularly between Sarandon
and Robbins, who went on to become husband and wife in real life), the
locations appropriately dingy and the supporting performances (particularly
from a pre-"Arli$$" Wuhl) on the money. Besides, any sports movie that ends
with its characters embraced in intimacy instead of the man trying to make a
last-minute score to get the girl and feel good about himself has its
priorities more straight than all the "Rocky" sequels put together.
Terrific, memorable and amusing adult entertainment that doesn't pander to
idiots or moviegoers trained by years of Hollywood clichés to expect 'the big
game' at the end of every sports movie.
The Disc:
Shown in Widescreen Anamorphic and/or Full Screen Video
Transfers (1:78:1 and 1:33:1, respectively), "Bull Durham" has the
tell-tail signs of a low-budget 1980's movie shot on film stock that wasn't
of the highest quality. The picture is always soft and sporadic instances of
film grain and dirt appear throughout its length; its color palette and human
flesh tones, though passable and at moments even glossy (like the candle-lit
love-making bathtub scenes between Costner and Sarandon), feels washed-out.
It's the best "Bull Durham" has looked outside of movie theaters though, and
it's not such a bad picture when viewed in the context of being part of a
world that is also devoid of showy settings or sparkling locales. If the
mostly-rural Minor League baseball fields and locker rooms look like dumps,
why shouldn't the picture look more glamorous and pristine than the subjects
it is taping? This was, after all, shot on a meager (by Hollywood standards)
$6 million budget over 15 years ago.
File "Bull Durham's" video transfer under 'tolerable given the limitations of
the original source', which is also where the new Dolby 5.1 Surround
Soundtrack should be categorized. Aside from a few incidental
background effects (people yelling from the stands, a thunderstorm in the
distance, etc.), the rear speakers stay mostly quiet and the panning is kept
to a discreet minimum in this 5.1 audio mix. The central channel is where
most of the sound concentrates, particularly the audible and
effectively-clear lines of dialogue; decent, but not outstanding or
particularly effective use of a home theater's audio set-up. There are also
French/Spanish 2.0 Surround Tracks available, along with
English/Spanish/French/Portuguese Subtitles.
Two Commentary Tracks headline the bonus material in this SE
version of "Bull Durham": one reunites Kevin 'Crash Davis' Costner with his
co-star Tim '"Nuke" LaLoosh' Robbins, and the other cedes the microphone to
writer/director Ron Shelton. Costner and Robbins seem to be have a ball
remembering what it was like to shoot the film back in 1987. Their anecdotes
and put-ons to one another are contagiously affecting; you almost feel like
you're sitting next to them chatting along, since it's that kind of
personable and likable a commentary track. Ditto for Ron Shelton's
insightful and candid comments about how green he was for this, his rookie
directorial debut; Shelton also comments quite a bit on "Tin Cup", a 1995
romantic comedy that teamed him up again with "Bull Durham" star Kevin
Costner. There's also a 'Between The Lines: The Making of Bull Durham'
Documentary (28 min.) that covers with pictures, new/old interviews
and anecdotes some aspects of the production not mentioned in Shelton or the
actors; the documentary and the commentary tracks complement each other
rather well.
There are also two short featurettes, 'Kevin Costner Profile' &
'SportsWrap' (the former about the raising star of then-newcomer
Costner and the latter about minor/major league players), Photo
Galleries (four of them containing 66 pictures total), Two
Theatrical Trailers and, last and certainly least, a Joe Cocker
Music Video, 'A Man Loves A Woman'. Somebody please kill me now!
bottom line:
This is a charming, amusing, well-acted and insightful romantic comedy in
which 'the game' takes its rightful place alongside (not above or below) the
personal entanglements of its baseball-loving characters. Costner, Robbins
and Sarandon deliver some of their best performances ever, and
writer/director Shelton's script hasn't lost an ounce of its grown-up wit in
the 14 years since it was written. Picture and sound aren't the greatest,
but the new special features make this Special Edition version of "Bull
Durham" the one to own on DVD.
By - J.M. Vargas
