Bull Durham – Special Edition

 

Picture: B-     Sound: B-     Extras: B     Film: B

 

 

When Ron Shelton’s Bull Durham (1988) first hit theaters, it was a surprise hit, especially since most sports films never did any business.  In another surprise, it was ignored when awards season came out.  Was it the violence?  No, there is none.  Was it a lack of wit?  No, this is probably the best screenplay Shelton has ever written.  The truth about it is that it is a bold, daring film that leaves no stone unturned in the world of sports, especially baseball, and has appreciated in value like crazy as sports has been buried by big money.

 

The situation was somewhat bad in 1988, but it is grossly oversaturated by now, and this has made the film’s strong points all the stronger.  The film focuses on the minor leagues as Annie (Susan Sarandon in one of her best-ever performances) is our host as we discover her own holy trilogy: religious philosophy, baseball and sex.  As the ads pointed out with their baseball graphics, this was a film about America’s other pastime.  With the new season begun, she has two men who could possibly be the one she backs up into potential big league success: “Crash” Davis (Kevin Costner) has wisdom and experience, while “Nuke” LaLoosh (Tim Robbins), who is a wet behind the ears newcomer.  Annie is going to have her hands full this spring.

 

The film’s honest comes at the trashing of a certain elitist take on all sports that was building up at the time; a commercializing that had been developing for years that was finally ruining the big league games.  This film came out during the latter part of the Reagan/Bush 1980s, and as things have become even more conservative (this elitism has extended to the media, who own sports teams like never before), the film has become a hot potato.  Recently, a Baseball Hall Of Fame anniversary presentation of the film was cancelled because co-stars Sarandon and Robbins (who met on the film and have been together ever since) had anti-war views concerning Iraq!  The censorship can be traced back in a smaller sense to the film’s content back in the day and it is doubtful any other studio by the now sadly defunct Orion Pictures would have greenlighted it.  The censorship extends to cinema.

 

The film is not just an exercise in being subversive, though its humor slyly exploits the limits, myths and assumptions of baseball and America itself; it still loves both very much.  However, it also exposes the realities of superstitions, traditions, struggling situations, insecurities and the real reasons people love the game.  This is a very well cast film and everyone has great lines and moments.  This is a film that comes from the heart and dugout, not from Madison Avenue and it has not been equaled since.

 

The DVD offers the film in a lame full-frame 1.33 X 1 image on one side and a better 1.85 X 1 anamorphically enhanced image on the other that is better.  That is not to say it is what it should; be, as colors and detail look subtly muted throughout.  The Dolby Digital 5.1 AC-3 remix is also lacking in depth and fidelity.  The film was originally issued in Dolby A-type analog theatrical surround and that sounded better, as did the PCM CD Pro Logic Stereo on the old 12” LaserDisc.  The other three soundtracks (French & Spanish surround, Portuguese mono) are not as good.  Extras include new Making Of and new Costner/Robbins commentary, joining trailers, a Shelton commentary, a stills gallery, and a few other pieces to round out things.

 

Originally issued in 2002, MGM is also making it available as part of its Grand Slam DVD Giftset with Eight Men Out, The Jackie Robinson Story, and Pride Of The Yankees.  Even at the time of its release, I can remember elitist types who hated the film or criticized others who like liked film as too risqué, but the fact is that they are the very people who are from the “do as I say, not as I do” crowd as they are collecting their millions.  That is why the film is ultimately a triumph, because it will always expose hypocrites who falsely stand for what sports are all about on and off the field: freedom, competition and opportunity.  The big money in sports is ruining that, despite efforts to make thing more even and put caps on certain types of payments and salaries.  With all that money, you could think that that is what sports were ever all about.  This film hits too close to home.  Even more than Costner’s overrated Field Of Dreams (1989), no film captures the spirit and truth about the greatness of baseball than Bull Durham.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo