Not many fans for The Fan

Rating: 6/10 (15 August 2014)

In this psychological thriller, Robert De Niro fresh off Casino and Heat, stars as a down on his luck salesman who becomes obsessed with his favourite baseball player Wesley Snipes, who despite his last few movies Drop Zone, Money Train flopping, was still popular after success in movies like 'Demolition Man' with Sly Stallone and 'Rising Sun' with Sean Connery, both of which grossed over $100 million dollars.
De Niro who has contributed some tough fisted, hard as nails characters over the years is walked over and insulted by people early on as salesman Gil, but he remains as intense as always. Snipes is charismatic and likable as the Giants new record signing Bobby Rayburn.
Benico Del Toro is annoyingly effective as Rayburn's rival player. John Leguizamo puts in a fine performance as Rayburn's agent. Ellen Barkin pops up as the local sports reporter, intent on getting the story if the star player is worth $40 million. And look for a blink and you'll miss him Jack Black working for Barkin.
Given the talent involved, I'm surprised this failed to find an audience, as Tony Scott's direction keeps things moving at a steady pace and it is an intense movie that whilst not a home run is more than watchable.
Worth checking out at least once.