Mar

27

Bull DurhamThe 1988 film Bull Durham, a favorite of mine, is simple yet highly entertaining, combining a series of twists and turns weaving comedy, passion, pathos into a finely crafted work.

Veteran minor-league catcher Crash Davis is assigned to the Class A Durham Bulls to handle the team's star rookie, wild pitcher "Nuke" LaLoosh. Team groupie Annie Savoy romances both players, creating a comic triangle.Kevin Costner plays Crash Davis, an aging career minor league catcher whose claim to fame is that he played in "The Show" for a few weeks and he is on pace to hit the most home runs in the minor leagues.Tim Robbins plays Ebbie Calvin "Nuke" Laloosh a Louisiana yokel who derives his nickname from the fact that he has a million dollar arm but is completely wild and unpredictable. He also has much to learn in an out of the game of baseball. Davis' job is to ensure that "Nuke" gets the training he needs so he gets to make it to the major leagues.Susan Sarandon plays Annie Savoy. Annie is groupie for the team who selects one player at the beginning of the season that she will remain attached to. She is a fan of Edith Piaf and teaches English at a local community college. For this season, she has selected "Nuke".

There is a memorable scene when Annie confronts Crash in his room complaining of the fact that as a result of "Nukes" learning process and Crash's mentoring, it is completely disrupting their love life.

She storms into Crash's home hysterically and during the height of the exchange quotes a passage from one of William Blakes most famous books, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell. From out of nowhere she blurts out " the road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom! William Blake!" Crash "William Blake?" Annie "William Blake!"

For some reason, this stands out in my mind and in many ways gives us an insight into the world of Annie and Crash at the same time. It also reveals ultimately where Annie's love truly lies.

I encourage everyone who is a fan of the game to watch Bull Durham and the series on WGN. I promise you will not be disappointed.


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2 Comments so far

  1. George Parkanyi on March 29, 2008 2:12 am

    Well, all I know is Susan Sarandon is really hot. In fact, so is Helen Mirren. To quote Forrest Gump — "And that's all I have to say about that." Cheers,George

  2. Ty on March 18, 2009 3:13 pm

    My favorite baseball movie. Wish more folks appreciated it.

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