Bull Durham **** (1988, Kevin Costner, Tim Robbins, Susan Sarandon) – Classic Movie Review 2732

Writer-director Ron Shelton’s 1988 sports comedy drama finally did the trick for Kevin Costner, who hits a home run and shoots to stardom as Crash Davis, a cynical, veteran baseball catcher taken on by North Carolina’s Durham Bulls (a real team part owned by the film’s producer Thom Mount).

There at the club he teaches a smug, super-talented young pitcher named Ebby Calvin ‘Nuke’ LaLoosh (Tim Robbins), who also gets selected by a sexy, mature groupie called Annie Savoy (Susan Sarandon) for love training. [An ‘Annie’ is a term referring to baseball groupies.]

All three stars’ playing is in the major league, and there’s an intelligent, amusing Oscar-nominated screenplay that also includes some sizzling sex scenes. Shelton conveys his delight in baseball and all its mythology and superstitions, while keeping a beady eye on the love story.

This is a raunchy film, with lots of locker-room dialogue and four-letter words, nudity and sexual situations, which may be cut on TV.

Also in the cast are Trey Wilson who plays Durham manager Joe Riggins, Robert Wuhl, William O’Leary, David Neidorf, Danny Gans, Tom Silardi, Max Pakin, George Buck and Jenny Robertson. Trey Wilson died of a cerebral haemorrhage at age 40, seven months after this film’s release.

Though baseball movies were not considered a viable commercial prospect at the time, it was a huge hit, especially in America, where it took more than $50million on a budget of $7million.

During filming, natural athlete Costner was able to hit two home runs while the cameras were rolling.

© Derek Winnert 2015 Classic Movie Review 2732

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