The Fan
Tags: murder

Plot synopsis:
Gaurav Chandana (Shah Rukh Khan) is a Delhi-based die-hard and obsessive fan of Bollywood superstar Aryan Khanna (also Shah Rukh Khan); Aryan is Gaurav's whole life. Gaurav's face bears an uncanny similarity to Aryan's, which helps him win the local talent show competition impersonating Aryan. He then embarks on a journey to meet Aryan in person.
When Sid Kapoor (Taher Shabbir Mithaiwala), a fellow actor, expresses harsh sentiments about Aryan to the press, Gaurav gets furious and invades Sid's cabin. He holds him hostage, beats him, and makes him apologise to Aryan while he records it. The video is uploaded to the internet, where Aryan sees it. He considers Gaurav's actions a crime and gets Gaurav arrested. In jail, Gaurav is mercilessly beaten, and Aryan comes to meet him. Gaurav is delighted, but Aryan angrily reprimands him and declares that Gaurav is not his fan. He reveals that he was the one who got Gaurav arrested, and tells him to forget they ever met. Shattered and disillusioned, Gaurav returns home and burns all of his Aryan memorabilia, vowing to get revenge against Aryan for turning his fan away.
One year later in London, Gaurav heads to Madame Tussauds wax museum, impersonating Aryan and purposely creating a havoc situation in which he triggers the police. The real Aryan is then arrested despite declaring that he is innocent. Aryan is bailed out and departs to Dubrovnik for a show. He gets a call from Gaurav, who warns him to apologise or he will destroy Aryan's stardom. Gaurav disguises himself as a crew-member to get into Aryan's show; though Aryan instructs his personnel to look out for him, they fail to catch him.
Aryan is next scheduled to perform at a billionaire’s wedding. Gaurav poses as Aryan and molests the billionaire's daughter. The billionaire berates the real Aryan and makes him leave the event. Outside, Aryan spots Gaurav and gives chase, though Gaurav escapes. The molestation incident gets all over the news, resulting in a tarnished reputation and fans boycotting Aryan's shows. In a press conference, Aryan explains that someone else is impersonating him and asks for time so he can prove his innocence.
Back in India, Gaurav invades Aryan’s home and vandalises his trophy collection. Aryan visits Gaurav's parents and meets Neha, Gaurav's crush. He then devises a plan to impersonate Gaurav and declare his love to Neha at the local talent show. This provokes Gaurav, who shoots at Aryan with a gun. Aryan chases him and subdues Gaurav after a bloody fight. He asks Gaurav to stop this and live his own life. Gaurav says that his life is nothing without Aryan and flings himself off the roof, dying with a smile. A horrified Aryan watches him fall.
Aryan’s name is cleared from all the controversies, but the ordeal still haunts him. On his next birthday, when he goes out to the roof to greet his fans, Aryan sees a hallucination of Gaurav smiling up at him.

Review: `The Fan,' directed by Tony Scott and starring Robert De Niro and Wesley Snipes, is an intense and disturbing motion picture that examines that moment and the effects it can have on the lives of those either directly or indirectly involved.
Here, the focus is on one Gil Renard (De Niro), a knife salesman in San Francisco and a die-hard Giants fan who is pumped about the acquisition during the off-season of superstar centerfielder Bobby Rayburn (Snipes), whom he believes will bring a pennant to the team.
It's the dual story of a fan obsessed with baseball and his favorite player and that same player and his performance anxiety living up to the huge amount of money the Giants are paying him.The title role is played by Robert DeNiro and a lot of his character is taken from what Michael Douglas had earlier did in Falling Down.
DeNiro is not cutting it as a salesman of hunting knives (no pun intended) and he's having problems with his former wife Patty D'Arbanville-Quinn over visitation with his son.At the same time multi-million dollar acquisition Wesley Snipes is having problems living up to the hype and he's looking like a big old bust.
The problem is that there are too many out there, fans like DeNiro in sports and in show business who get way too caught up in it.Look also for nice performances by Ellen Barkin who has a sports phone-in show and John Leguizamo as Snipes's agent and the wisest guy he has around him..
This movie did a great job of portraying how Gil's volatile personality, his obsession with the baseball and with Bobby (Snipes) in particular, and his loss of everything else that mattered to him, ultimately led him to do what he did..
The film centres around Gil (De Niro), an obsessive baseball fan who puts his beloved New York Giants and particularly their new star player Bobby Rayburn (Snipes) above everything else in life.
When Rayburn's below par performances have fans and pundits calling for him to be dropped however in favour of rival Juan Primo (Benicio Del Toro) , his number one fan is determined to do whatever it takes to get him back on top....De Niro shows just why he is one of the best actors around (despite his latest chequebook acting efforts) with this performance as the single minded, baseball obsessive Gill.
Snipes puts in a solid performance as the luckless Baseball player with the burden of a huge transfer fee and season of glory resting on his shoulders along with Benicio del Toro as his cocky rival hitter but this is De Niro's film and he does the bad-guy-you-side-with down to a tee!
A flawed movie,  but worth seeing for De Niro's performance as Gil Renard, an increasingly crazed fan/stalker.
Certainly, there's some of Max Cady, the Cape Fear psychotic, in his portrayal; but there's also a lot of Rupert Pupkin, the confused kidnapper and would-be comic from King of Comedy - both films, of course, directed by Martin Scorsese.Where the film fails is in being too repetitive and, consequently, a bit too long; one or two of the scenes where Gil is trying to sell his knives are superfluous; and, when Gil is at the game with his son, why does the camera have to keep cutting to the woman in the crowd - once or twice would have been sufficient.
A major unconvincing aspect is that surely a $40m signing, like Bobby Raybourn (Wesley Snipes), would be surrounded by a lot more razzmatazz than simply one not-too-effective agent (John Leguizamo).But, on the whole, one to rent or watch on TV (as I've just done) if nothing more compelling is available..
Robert DeNiro delivers superbly in his role as an extremely obsessive baseball fan, and as all DeNiro fans love and know that in many of his movies he delivers great lines with his powerful facial expressions that makes you intense with anticipation.
The film got a lot of the much more important stuff right, which is good performances from the actors and good, no great, character development and insight into these characters.The film took us into deep the mind of the obsessed fan (De Niro) and that obsession grows in a logical fashion as the movie progresses.
His passion and intensity were on the front burner all movie long and made his character truly believeable and consistent.The film takes us into the baseball player culture in the lockeroom, and into the workings of player and agent (which is what I really found interesting), as well as player and radio station personality.
***SPOILERS*** Robert De Niro is at his deranged and psychotic best as the crazed baseball fanatic or fan for short Gil Renard a man completely whacked out of his skull.
It's Gil who takes matters into his own hands when his hero the just traded to the San Francisco Giants, from the Atlanta Braves, Bobby Rayburn, Wesley Snipes, gets the short end of the stick by the teams management.
That's by Bobby not being able to retain his number #11 on his Giants jersey that he feels made him a,.314 lifetime hitter, his supernatural powers in both hitting and catching a baseball.Gil has his own problems at work and at home with his job as a sport supply executive specializing in hunting knives on the line and his old lady Ellen, Patti D'Arbanville, about to get complete custody of their seven year old son Richie,Andrew J.
Bobby the 40 million dollar man, that's what the Giants higher ups were paying him, who was in a king size slump all season now, with Primo gone and his famed #11 back, started hitting up to expectations.It's later on when Gil just happened to be around to save Bobby's eight year old son Sean, Brandon Hammond, from almost drowning in the Pacific Ocean that his high opinions about Bobby drastically changed.
And with that and outraged and dejected Gil plans to make Bobby's life both personal and professional into a living hell on earth!***SPOILERS*** The movie "The Fan" is really a one man show with Robert De Niro at center stage doing his thing, being off the wall crazy, that he and only he can do best.
Gil's craziness goes so far as kidnapping Bobby's son Sean and even going farther in murdering his little league hero, his battery mate, Coop, Charles Hallahan, when he himself realized just how crazy Gil his one time best friend really was.The ending of the movie was a bit too much to take with Gil going all out to get Bobby to publicly acknowledge what he did for him in front of a sold out crowd at Candlestick Park and on top of all that hit a home run for him!
As psychopathic baseball fan Gil Renard, Robert De Niro does his best acting in years.
Once again Wesley Snipes was in a tough spot but this time as a Baseball player.John Leguizamo was good as always and Benicio Del Toro played his part well but Kurt Fuller and Chris Mulkey in My opinion was`t given a lot of time to act their best.The Fan is a fast paces movie and some times it gets really hyper.The Baseball scenes are good and realistic especially when you see the Stadiums.The film delivers a lot and I think most Robert De Niro and Wesley Snipes fans will like The Fan!Note: As a very big Baseball fan the arguments and incidents that happened between Bobby Rayburn (Wesley Snipes) and Juan Primo (Benicio Del Toro) reminded Me a lot of the real life Baseball feud between homerun king Barry Bonds and slugger Jeff Kent.In My opinion it is really ashame two great people like them have to dislike each other but that`s how people are..
I found it slightly difficult to believe that Renard would have started out as a frustrated obsessive sports fan into being an out and out psychoThe character arc isn't the only problem with this script - It also lacks a character focus ( A problem I had with THE UNTOUCHABLES where De Niro should have been superb but ended up slightly flat ) , for several stretches of the movie I kept thinking that Bobby Rayburn was the main character then the story switches back to Renard .
I'm not sure if this was meant to appeal to baseball fans originally but again there are elements which hint it might have if the producers had made up their minds has to who and what the story should focus upon I will admit I was entertained by THE FAN ( Especially by the soundtrack ) but it is a very flawed film and it should be remembered that by the mid 1990s characters being stalked by nutters as in SINGLE WHITE FEMALE , UNLAWFUL ENTRY etc had run out of steam a long time ago.
Robert De Niro teams up with director Tony Scott and Wesley Snipes to make one good thriller.
The violence is limited and that's is a good thing but language is high.(MAY CONTAIN SOME SPOILERS!!!)Number one fan Gil Renard whose obsession is focused on a San Francisco Giants all-star outfielder Booby Rayburn.
When Primo brushes off the fan's concerns, Gil proceeds to murder the left fielder with one of his makeshift knives!Wesley Snipes finally gives a exceptional performance and he plays his sport role, Bobby Rayburne, very well and he shows emotion along with many other good feelings.
Robert De Niro plays the die-hard baseball fan who will do anything to impress his favorite baseball player, Bobby Rayburne (Wesley Snipes, and which results in him turning into something sinister and evil.
Gil Renard, the man at the center of The Fan, is this kind of guy, and then some.On the surface, the movie can be seen as a two-dimensional thriller about a psychotic baseball nut.
And when the superstar enters a slump and loses his $40 million worth, Gil takes it upon himself to get his favorite player hitting again, whatever it takes.For Tony Scott, The Fan marks his first foray into character study, but is only an addition to thrillers on his filmography.
The movie revolves around Robert DeNiro's character, Gil, an over obsessed sports fan who decides he wants to play an active role in the career of Bobby (Wesley Snipes), in a performance that will be mentioned in the same sentence as "Passenger 57".
See it to find out.Pretty disappointed with this movie, although it features one of my favourite scenes ever when Gil and Bobby have a little game of baseball near the end..
De Niro plays Gil, an obsessive baseball fan who takes a liking to newly recruited Giants player Bobby (Wesley Snipes), whose contract was some $40 million for the team.
Others are skeptics, but Gil believes in Bobby, even after an injury lowers his batting average and fans everywhere cry bloody outrage.Gil decides to take matters into his own hands by "helping" Bobby -- until the baseball player turns on his fans and Gil feels betrayed and works up a revenge scheme.The plot summary for this may sound stupid, but I like it because of the depth added to the characters.
The film really builds up insight into Gil, a failing knife salesman who has a strange obsession with the Rolling Stones, baseball and violence.In fact the subtleties are what make this movie succeed past others of its genre.
It's the story of Gil Renard (Robert De Niro) - a former little league star who never made the majors but who's become a fanatical fan of the San Francisco Giants.
He wants Rayburn to succeed - and he becomes obsessed with Rayburn, to the point at which he goes to great lengths to "help" him (watch the movie), and then, when Rayburn won't thank him for what he did, he kidnaps the star's son and threatens to kill him unless Rayburn hits a home run in the next game and publicly dedicates it to Gil. That's the story in a nutshell.Overall, the story isn't that compelling to be honest.
Bobby Rayburn (Wesley Snipes), an all-star baseball player who has signed a 40 million dollar deal with the Giants, thinks his life is perfect.
What he doesn't know is that he has an overly obsessed fan named Gil Renard (Robert De Niro) who will make his life a living hell.
Robert De Niro plays a great crazy guy, and Wesley Snipes does a great job playing a baseball player who deals with a crazy fan.
but we were straight out lucky to have the greatest actor on the planet (that's Robert De Niro) playing the role of Gil Renard, a baseball freak fixated on centre fielder Bobby Rayburn (Wesley Snipes), who has traded up from Milwaukee to the San Francisco Giants with a wow $40 million contract.
You sit down to watch The Fan and wonder how De Niro is going to come up with something new after firing on presidential candidate Leonard Harris in Taxi Driver, kidnapping TV star Jerry Lewis in The King of Comedy, torturing lawyer Nick Nolte in Cape Fear and abusing stepson Leonardo DiCaprio in This Boy's Life, to name just a few of the victims De Niro has memorably stalked.Up till this point, "The Fan" is badly rated because of Tony Scott's miss-direction, not crappy performances by the cast or anything like a bad plot line.
De Niro plays Gil, a die hard baseball fan and devout follower of Bobby Rayburn (Wesley Snipes), star player for his favourite team.
He's a dedicated fan of his San Francisco Giants and now that prized player Bobby Rayburn (Snipes) has been added to the team, Gil is all the more into the sport.
Robert De Niro as yet another crack-pot: this time, he's a baseball-obsessed knife salesman fixated on Wesley Snipes, the new $40 million pitcher for the San Francisco Giants.
You have Robert De Niro, Wesley Snipes, Ellen Barkin and John Legusimo all talking like pigs right from the first sentence of the movie.You know, it might have been a good movie about greedy baseball players and an obsessed fan, but come on - in the first 10 minutes alone I heard 20- f-words and 10 usages of the Lord's name in vain!
can only watch.Such is the case with Gil Renard (Robert DeNiro) a divorced, unstable knife salesman, who has only one light left in his life: Baseball.And only one person he admires:Bobby Rayburn.Bobby Rayburn, by sharp contrast, is the most preeminent baseball player for the San Francisco Giants.As the movie progresses, we watch both men's lives unravel.And while Renard loses his job, and custody of his son; Rayburn (played by Wesley Snipes) suffers a chest injury, and gets upstaged by an ambitious young player, Juan Primo (Benicio Del Toro).It is at this point in the story when Renard decides to take matters into his own hands:He murders Primo, thus restoring Rayburn to his former greatness, but this is not enough.Firmly believing that he has done a good thing (for the Giants, and his idol), Renard decides to reach out to Rayburn, it being his opinion that the baseball star doesn't acknowledge his fans enough.This sets off a series of events which lead the increasingly more unhinged Renard to kidnap Rayburn's son...and demand a home run in exchange for his return.This is a very familiar theme of obsession and murder.You've seen this movie before, with different actors, different storylines, and different titles.What makes this one worth watching however, is a decent script (take for instance, the last scene of the movie), an excellent cast, and a powerful director.Tony Scott does a terrific job with this movie, giving it a dimension most directors could never have achieved.The actors are right on target, bringing out the complexities of their characters.Bobby Rayburn is very well played by Snipes:He's confident, and self-assured without being arrogant.Robert DeNiro is spectacular as Renard:He's clearly psychotic, and, although you can't root for him, you can understand what's causing his breakdown.He's a failure at his degrading job.
Scott's trademark flashy visuals, breathless camera work and hyperactive editing are there from the outset as die-hard San Francisco Giants fan Gil (Robert De Niro), speeds across town in his van while engaging in a somewhat bizarre radio phone-in about the Giants' new $40 million star signing Bobby Rayburn (Wesley Snipes).Once things calm down a little, we learn that Gil is a hunting supplies salesman who's having a tough time meeting his targets and is under threat of losing his job.
Snipes does well too it's about Gill a knife salesman who loves baseball and Rayburn is a baseball player,Gil starts to stalk Rayburn and is psychotic I don't want to give anything away so just watch it and I think you will agree I loved it and have saw it many times I strongly recommend x I love all Roberts films he's a superb actor and director.
Sometimes baseball can be more important than life itself.Starring Robert De Niro and Wesley Snipes.Written by Peter Abrahams ( Book ) and Phoef Sutton ( Screenplay).Directed by Tony Scott.Sometimes a very average movie can be carried by one great acting performance.It's never been truer said than in this one.
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).
Obsessive, compulsive behavior best describes Robert De Niro's fine performance in this film.As a San Francisco Giant fan, he attends all games and proceeds to lose his salesman's job.
De Niro Is The Man. Knife salesman Gil Renard is a die-hard baseball fan and is looking forward to Opening Day more than normal as his team, the San Fransisco Giants, have acquired Bobby Rayburn - a 3-time MVP - from the Atlanta Braves.
The Fan is an excellent thriller directed by British director Tony Scott (True Romance, Top Gun) and stars Robert De Niro and Wesley Snipes.
As Gil Renard, De Niro plays a Willie Loman-like knife salesman whose obsession with baseball in general and the San Francisco Giants in particular takes him over the edge.