Benjamin’s Stash
Baseball diamonds and love triangles.
Cast of Characters:
Crash Davis – Kevin Costner
Annie Savoy – Susan Sarandon
Ebby Calvin “Nuke” LaLoosh – Tim Robbins
Joe Riggins – Trey Wilson
Larry Hockett – Robert Wuhl
Director – Ron Shelton
Writer – Ron Shelton
Producer – Thom Mount & Mark Burg
Distributor – Orion Pictures
Running Time – 108 minutes
Rated R
Despite what looks like another miserable, sparsely-attended losing season, the Minor League Durham Bulls still have one thing going for them – their impetuous, hotshot rookie pitcher Ebby “Nuke” LaLoosh (Tim Robbins), who as his pitching coach Larry Hockett (Robert Wuhl) says has “a million dollar arm with a five cent head”. Seeing the MLB potential in their young prospect and not wanting it to go to waste, the Bulls bring on twelve-year veteran catcher Crash Davis (Kevin Costner) to take him under his wing and give him guidance.
As you’d expect, Nuke and Crash’s differing philosophies on the game gets the two off to a rocky start, and what better way to resolve that than with a complicated love triangle monkey-wrenching all that up? Enter devoted baseball enthusiast and die-hard Durham Bulls fan Annie Savoy (Susan Sarandon), who each year selects one of the prospects to be her lover. She’s just doing what she can for the team, after all. Why just one lover per year? Monogamous commitment? Hell, no. If you know anything about Minor League Baseball, if you’re good enough, eventually the “Big Show” calls you up, and as she puts it, “There’s never been a ballplayer slept with me who didn’t have the best year of his career.”
So, I guess she’s like Lucky Charms… magically delicious.
Writer/director Ron Shelton is no stranger to great sports themed films, having also written and directed White Men Can’t Jump (basketball) and Tin Cup (golf), as well as just writing Blue Chips (basketball) and The Great White Hype (boxing).
He also wrote and directed the dreadful Just Getting Started, which somehow brought Academy Award winners Morgan Freeman and Tommy Lee Jones together in the worst film of 2017… but, hey, even Steven Spielberg had a few bad days at the office.
What most viewers may not know about Shelton is that he played in the Minor Leagues for the Baltimore Orioles organization from 1967-71. That fact is more than evident as you watch Bull Durham, his “rookie” film as a director that would earn him his only Oscar nomination to date for Best Original Screenplay. They say write what you know first, and right from the opening scene, Shelton’s love and knowledge of the game of baseball is on full display.
That’s exactly what makes Bull Durham such an excellent watch, one that cranks out a two-run homer as not just one of the greatest baseball flicks of all-time, but also one of the greatest rom-coms of all-time. This is a topic Shelton cares deeply about, and that care translates over to the characters as well. Sure, as a rom-com, the only two things this film really needs to check off the list is humor and chemistry between the romantic leads, but it’s still nice to get a film that certainly accomplishes those two aspects while also providing authentic insights into those little behind the scenes details of baseball. Whether it’s seeing what actually goes on during mound conferences with the pitcher and catcher, coaches meetings (both Trey Wilson and Robert Wuhl each get a few moments to shine as the team’s manager and pitching coach, respectively), or some unconventional ways of achieving a rainout, this film is guaranteed to deliver more than a handful of laugh-out-loud moments.
And for those that start to think that some of those moments stretch credibility for the sake of comedy, Shelton himself has confirmed in multiple interviews that many of the film’s so-called unlikely scenarios are based on incidents that actually took place during his playing days.
Which makes you wonder about that live rooster.
You’ll know what I mean after seeing the film.
Of course, the love triangle has been beaten to death so badly it should press charges, especially within the last decade or so in young adult (YA) fiction. However, Bull Durham is an exception, and it comes back to the characters. At face value, they appear as the typical sports/rom-com archetypes we’ve seen a number of times before and after – the grizzled veteran; dumb, cocky hotshot; and the temptress. Over the course of the film, though, the three reveal more texture and nuance than their cliché surfaces initially appear to show. Crash obviously has an attraction to Annie, but is more puzzled by her “support” of the team and wants nothing of it, which he explains to her during a great monologue on his beliefs that somehow manages to bring together cock, pussy, AstroTurf and the JFK assanation (coincidentally, Costner would go on to star in Oliver Stone’s JFK). Nuke’s getting laid and that’s all he cares about. That is, until he gets a good streak going and goes to great lengths to not jinx it. Annie – who coaches Nuke about the game almost as much as Crash does – is all about being that sexual mascot for the team, but as the film goes on, she begins to question whether she wants something more or not. It’s this emphasis on characters first and love triangle second that allows for the very much overused plot device to work.
Say what you want about Kevin Costner’s many misfires throughout the ’90s (Waterworld, The Postman, Dragonfly), but like his director, the man has a deep love for baseball that has translated into some of the finest films of his decades-long career, with not just this film but also the immensely heartwarming Field of Dreams and the vastly underrated For Love of the Game. Bull Durham ranks right up there as one of his best performances, and an argument can be made that it is his best. I’m sure The Untouchables fans will fight me on that one, but as great as that movie is, Costner gets to show a little more charisma and emotional range here as Crash Davis than what he was afforded as the straight-arrowed Eliot Ness.
Tim Robbins delivers a great breakthrough performance as the brash young pitching prospect who doesn’t seem to realize that the only one holding him back from making it to the “Big Show” is actually himself. Much of the talk about the film’s chemistry focuses and Sarandon vs. Costner/Robbins, and make no mistake, that’s understandable, as the chemistry between the trio is absolutely electric. That said, the chemistry between Costner and Robbins shouldn’t go unnoticed either, which is also another reason why this film’s love triangle works so well. It cares just as much about Crash and Nuke’s relationship as it does the “Will they or won’t they?” angle between Annie and her potential suitors. Much like a shit-talking with the best of intentions big brother, Costner forms an authentic bond with Robbins that provides many of the film’s funniest and sometimes poignant moments, most notably in the way he sees Nuke’s natural, God-given talent but is frustrated at the way he seems content to just squander it.
“You don’t respect yourself. That’s your problem, but you also don’t respect the game. That’s my problem.”, chides Crash to Nuke when he finally confronts him on the hall of fame arm he’s just pissing away.
Completing the love triangle is Susan Sarandon in one of her most memorable roles. The role of Annie Savoy could’ve been played up as a one-note Delilah type, but Shelton and Sarandon treat her with far more respect than that. Yes, Sarandon certainly brings sass and sexiness to Annie, but she also brings intelligence, wit and personality as well, all perfectly played out in a humorous scene where she ties a horny Nuke to her bed… then reads Walt Whitman to him.
“Who does he play for?”, Nuke asks. Sums up each character perfectly.
Some might find themselves disappointed that this film doesn’t have the predictable big game climax like most baseball movies. That’s not the point of Bull Durham, though. Kinda like Moneyball, this film is not so much about the game itself as it is about the people involved in the game and all the minutia that goes on behind the scenes of the game. That’s what makes this film so great, and what sets it apart from other sports films. The characters are able to deliver a double punch of both humor and heart without the need for a big, uproarious victory in the bottom of the ninth.
Led by Ron Shelton’s brilliant dialogue and three fantastic performances from Academy Award winners Kevin Costner, Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins, Bull Durham is a smart, sexy and authentic romantic comedy that’s every bit as insightful about relationships as it is about baseball. No matter if you’re a dyed-in-the-wool baseball fanatic or someone so sports illiterate you think Steve Carlton’s wicked slider refers to a sandwich he made, this timeless rom-com classic will greatly charm and entertain you both.
Stash Tier: Diamond Stash
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