Only the acting prevents "The Fan" from striking out

Rating: Null/10 (2 August 2003)

While Ridley Scott ("Alien," "Blade Runner") continues to get the pick of the litter, younger brother Tony ("Days of Thunder," "The Last Boy Scout") is sometimes relegated to the leftovers, and "The Fan" is no exception. Unemployed knife salesman and San Francisco Giants fan Gil Renard (Robert DeNiro) is obsessed with his favorite player, $40 million acquisition Bobby Rayburn (Wesley Snipes). When Rayburn suffers through the worst slump of his career, Renard is more than willing to do anything to help him break out of it. It plays just as hokey as it sounds and is saved by good acting from a strong cast. Snipes has little to do in the thankless jock role but makes the most of it, and John Leguizamo is memorable as Rayburn's sleazy agent, but DeNiro, way over the top here but through no fault of his own, is more Max Patkin than Max Cady in a film that contains moderate bang for the buck yet ultimately fails to generate any actual thrills. "The Fan" tries to include a commentary on the relationship between high-priced ballplayers and the fans who pay their salary (one memorable line: "We're the ones who get you your $40 [expletive] million"), but it's drowned out by the tepid script, frenzied cinematography, and director Scott's peculiar fixation with the Nine Inch Nails catalog. The telltale sign that "The Fan" doesn't deliver as a thriller is when the most memorable scene consists of DeNiro swallowing his pride and shaving his legs with a hunting knife during in-store demonstrations. 7/10