Let's hear it for the Sixty-Minute Man!

Rating: 8/10 (6 April 2017)

"Bull Durham" was released in 1988. It was written and directed by Ron Shelton, who knew his way around an American baseball field, and runs the bases in a swift, witty 108 minutes. It stars Kevin Costner, in what may be the first of his successful sports-themed movies, Susan Sarandon, and a young Tim Robbins, at the outset of his career. It happily combines romantic comedy and baseball: many people still consider this the best movie about the boys of summer. Costner plays a veteran catcher brought in to mentor a talented but wild young pitcher (Robbins). Sarandon plays a teacher and baseball fan that takes one player under her wing (and into her bed) every year, and provides her own baseball wisdom, coaching and life experience!
The director, Ron Shelton does a superb job of bringing this story to life and hopefully satisfying the sports fan and rom-com addict at the same time. Full of some great, witty dialogue and earthy one- liners, this film does have its share of sex and bad language (it is rated 18) so be prepared for that, but it plays with a very natural and fun feeling to it. The most surprising thing to me though is that this isn't necessarily a baseball movie. Sure, the sport in question is baseball, but it could be any other sport, with a young upcomer (Robbins) being coached by experienced veterans (Costner and Sarandon), and the unconventional coaching methods that might be used. Especially by Sarandon's character.
Overall rating: 8 out of 10.