Base On Bulls

Rating: Null/10 (8 September 2011)

As multi-layered movies go this is up there with the best. Less than a week ago I took exception to a film that didn't know whether it wanted to be a farce, a drama, a slice of life a la Warners in the 30s or a modern take on Romeo and Juliet. As a result it was rubbish. Utilising some of the same elements Bull Durham is a fine, feel-good movie delivering both laughs, romance, and sex. In terms of baseball on celluloid we've had a reasonable amount of Major League, a lesser amount of Little League but I personally am unaware of any movie that focused on the Minor Leagues until now though I am happy to be corrected. Apart from the three leads, Susan Sarandon, Tim Robbins and Kevin Costner, the supporting cast is largely unfamiliar but all deliver fine performances. There's a fairly distant echo of the Billy Wilders about it in the idea of late-blooming seriousness coming out of light-hearted comedy but it really stands alone as a fine example of entertainment.