Bull Durham: The Best Movie About Baseball?
Bull Durham: Is This The Greatest Baseball Movie?
You may have previously seen the disdain with which we treat most sports films on this blog, especially those about football (soccer).
For such a broad and complex series of topics, it’s staggering that there are not more sporting films that sit alongside other genres at the very top of the tree.
Is this because the drama lies within the sport itself? Is it impossible to beat the storytelling inherently in every match, league and season?
These questions will no doubt keep academics awake at night.
However, one sports film that is allowed into our hit parade (remember that and you give away more than just your age) is Bull Durham.
A young-ish Kevin Costner reminds us of why he was once at the top of the alphabet when it came to Hollywood stars, and Susan Sarandon reminds us that she was sultry and seductive.
She still might be, but I haven’t not seen her in a movie for some time.
A pre-Shawshank Tim Robbins reminds us that he was funny before he wasn’t funny in jail.
If you love Baseball and Americana at any level, you will enjoy this film. If you don’t know much about Baseball this is a good film to start with. It is amusing and charming and frankly quite silly. It is worth a watch. IMDB is a bit harsh at 7.1….
Baseball: Nostalgia and Americana
If you want to get to the nub of what baseball as a game means to so many, this film does it, although in a tongue in cheek way. It is not that serious but echo’s sentiment and nostalgia in equal measure.
It makes you want to go to a rural backwater and head out to a Friday night game, drink cold beers and eat cheap hotdogs. I’ve done it myself and I can tell you there is no better night out for a sports fan.
Everything about this film makes me want to roll back the years to a simpler time, before social media, before being ‘ratioed’ on Twitter and back to when people actually wanted to go and watch live sports events.
Take me out to the ballgame, that’s how the song goes, and that’s where I want to go as well.
If you want to read a bit more about America’s game, then check out our guide to every MLB team here.
