Rating of
1.5/4
Strikes out on laughs
The M.O.W. - wrote on 02/25/09
In Durham, North Carolina, the minor league baseball team, the Durham Bulls, are having a horrible season. However, things may be looking up for the team as they have signed a promising rookie pitcher, "Ebby Calvin LaLoosh (Tim Robbins).
The team hires a catcher by the name of "Crash Davis" (Kevin Costner), who is nearing the end of his professional baseball career in the minors in a career that included three weeks in the major leagues (or "the show", as it is known in the minors), to teach the rookie. "LaLoosh" also gets some coaching by well-known groupie, "Annie Savoy" (Susan Sarandon), who hooks up with a player for the season, which many consider a good thing due to her unusual coaching ways in the sport she legitimately loves.
Although "Annie" has picked "LaLoosh", whom she gives the nickname "Nuke" to, it is getting quite obvious that she is falling for "Crash", who is pretty much her intellectual equal.
Now, the two have to battle over the same player, as they try not to act on their attraction for one another.
This is suppose to be a comedy right? Well, where were the laughs? I didn't laugh at all, at any of the jokes. I probably only slightly chuckled at a couple of jokes through the entire movie. The jokes fell completely flat in this movie.
Another thing I noticed in this movie is that it lagged the entire length of the film. The movie is very slow, and pretty boring. Part of the bordom is thanks to the supporting cast.
The supporting cast is completely boring. Not one advance the story, nor do they add to the movie. In fact, the supporting cast subplots do not go anywhere at all. They aren't even developed as much as the three main characters ("Nuke," "Annie" and "Crash").
In fact, the main characters chemistry wasn't that great. Although the performers were good in their roles, there was very little spark between them. I also thought that they had their moments together.
If I'm not mistaken, this is the movie where Sarandon and Robbins became an item. I felt that their on-screen chemistry was a bit weak, especially when she started going after "Crash." And I felt no romantic spark between "Annie" and "Crash."
I also found the music was pretty boring. Most of the songs were a little old, to the point that the youngest members of the (adult) audience would not know them. I found that the music didn't really enhance the scenes at all.
I was also unimpressed with the sets used in the movie. "Annie's" home was filled with junk, and had way too much of it. I was also disappointed in the baseball scenes.
The scenes on the diamond were just OK. Some had "Crash" teach "Nuke" some lessons, while some were just game play. I was not impressed with the game play scenes. None of the plays were too exciting, and just didn't do anything to the movie except remind you that this is a movie surrounding a minor league baseball season.
This movie is not for children, especially young ones. There is a lot of sexually-oriented language and some sexual situations. There is some sexual innuendo as well.
I've read that this movie is one of the greatest sports movies of all time. However, it appeared that baseball was not that major in the story itself.
Even the wardrobes were pretty boring. I really could not tell when this movie was suppose to take place. "Annie's" outfits looked to be about 30 years older than the rest of the cast's outfits.
In my opinion, this is certainly not the classic sports movie that people say it is. I found it boring, and suggest that you see it on regular TV where it is edited for content and time aloud. You won't miss too much.
