PRE GAME ⚾️
Welcome back to Balls on Film! 👋🏻
I hope you guys have had a good week, and enjoyed your Super Bowl weekend. The game itself might have been a colossal dud, but hopefully you at least got some entertainment from it all, whether it was the halftime show, the trailers or just having some great food with good company.
I don’t really like to get into stats too much here, but I’d like to start this week by thanking everyone for making last week’s Draft Day review one of the most read editions of Balls on Film yet. Perhaps you guys all had football fever last week, but I’m grateful for all of your comments, views and shares. It really motivates me to plan the next edition, try to make each week better than the last and plan for new features in the future.
Speaking of looking to the future, my good friend and former Screen Times colleague Sigmund Judge broke some exclusive news earlier this week on the return of Ted Lasso:
There’s been no official word yet on season 4, but as someone who knows Sigmund well, and has worked closely with him in the past, I can assure you that he is a credible source. I’ve gone back and forth on whether I want to see Ted Lasso return. It’s one of my favourite shows of all time, and one that I hold near and dear to my heart. Of course, I’ll be watching - but part of me wonders if it’s best having gone out on a high. No matter what, I’ll always be rooting for Coach Lasso and AFC Richmond.
Later at halftime, in addition to what I’ve been watching this week, I’m going to share a few trailers for some new sports documentaries and movies that have released over the last few days - all of which I’m excited to see.
For now though, let’s turn our attention to baseball. Pitchers and catchers have reported, Spring Training is underway and it’s Valentine’s Day! There’s no movie better suited to be this week’s review than Bull Durham.
Let’s play ball!
FIRST HALF ⚾️
Before Kevin Costner stepped on to the cornfields of Field of Dreams, he first taught us about life and the poetry of baseball in Bull Durham - and boy, does this movie really sweat baseball. Ron Shelton’s 1988 classic isn’t just one of the best baseball movies ever made; it’s also a great romantic comedy. As a sports movie, it sort of flipped the genre on its head because it’s not really about the big final game or the almost insurmountable comeback. It’s a story about second chances, the fleeting nature of life and finding purpose. It’s a very philosophical sports movie, and not in a beat-you-over-the-head-with-it kinda way.
Costner plays Crash Davis, a veteran minor-league catcher brought in by the Durham Bulls to mentor the wild, but incredibly talented young pitcher Ebby Calvin ‘Nuke’ LaLoosh (Tim Robbins), who lacks pitching control and overall discipline, both on and off the field. They both become enamoured with Annie (Susan Sarandon), who “believes in the church of baseball” (I absolutely love her opening monologue!) and selects a new player each season to ‘mentor’, in order to help mould them into great players. It’s this dynamic between the three characters that’s the beating heart of the film. It’s not a throwaway romance subplot that’s been tacked on to a sports movie either. This is as much a romantic comedy-drama as it is a baseball movie.
Kevin Costner delivers one of his most charismatic performances as Crash, and it’s pretty easy to see why he quickly became an enduring part of baseball movie history after this. Crash knows his career is winding down, but refuses to let go of the game he loves. There’s a few moments throughout the film where you can see the genuine sadness behind his otherwise cool exterior, and Costner delivers it with such nuance and subtlety.
Susan Sarandon is phenomenal as Annie, and it’s one of my favourite performances of hers. As I mentioned earlier, she’s not here as part of a simple romance subplot in a sports movie - she’s the anchor of the story. I love that the movie establishes her deep love and knowledge of baseball right off the bat. She teaches the two players that she’s torn between as much about baseball as they teach each other. Her relationship with Crash is so interesting, in that they are both too smart for the minor leagues, also but too romantic about the world they inhabit to leave it all behind. It’s this aspect of their dynamic that makes the ending of this movie so satisfying.
And then there’s Tim Robbins, who is the polar opposite of Crash. I’d read that both Robbins and Susan Sarandon consider this movie as their personal favourite of both their careers, and it’s easy to see why. Robbins is hilarious as the cocky but often clueless Nuke, and you can tell that he’s having a lot of fun with the role. Both he and Costner play off each other so well. Their relationship is as fun as it is complex. There’s plenty of laughs here, but there’s also a tension between them. Crash knows how talented Nuke is, and resents him for it because he’s on the downside of his career - meanwhile Nuke has no idea how much he still has to truly learn. Crash is brought in to mentor someone who he knows will surpass him, and it’s a really interesting dynamic that bleeds into both men’s relationships with Annie and the sort of weird love triangle that exists between them.
I said earlier that this movie sweats baseball, and I meant that quite literally! Nearly every frame of this movie glistens with that North Carolina summer heat - you can practically feel the sticky humidity of those locker rooms and ballparks, which only emphasises the gritty world of minor league baseball. It’s all amplified by the locker room banter, the long bus rides to road games, and the small-town stadiums - it all feels real, lived-in and full of character, and it just pours out of every scene. It’s a movie perfectly suited to a warm, sweaty summer night.
Bull Durham is a movie about the love of the game, but also about the love between people who get each other. It’s a movie about chasing your dreams, and the frustrations of time passing you by. As someone who’s about to turn 41 years old and still doesn’t know what he wants to be when he grows up, a lot of stuff in this movie connected with me deeply. The beautiful setting and cinematography also makes the whole thing feel like a long, sweaty summer night at the ballpark - and I mean that in the best way. It’s not about the big game, a game-winning home run or the scrappy underdog winning it all - it’s about the small victories found in the moments in between.
Bull Durham is available to rent or purchase on most digital platforms.
HALFTIME 🍿
Let’s take a break for halftime.
Here’s what else I’ve been watching this week:
September 5
This was utterly gripping. This look at the morality of news broadcasts, set during the 1972 Munich Olympics, pulls you in right from the start and never lets up. I love that it didn’t really ever leave the studio setting, which just made the whole thing even more tense and claustrophobic. It’s fantastic from a technical point of view too, and I loved getting a look at how tv broadcasts are put together and especially how they were done back then.
September 5 is in theatres now.
Heart Eyes
Who doesn’t love a good slasher movie? Heart Eyes feels like a throwback to the fun 90s slasher era, despite its modern day setting. Its trailer doesn’t really do it justice, and it’s a genuinely good slasher and rom-com genre mashup. A nice balance of horror and comedy, and the perfect Valentine’s date night movie.
Heart Eyes is in theatres now.
Pop Culture Jeopardy!
I’ve always enjoyed Jeopardy, despite it not being quite as popular or accessible over here in the U.K., but I was delighted to come across the pop culture edition on Prime, and have been binging it over the last week. Colin Jost is a great host, and there’s already a huge backlog of episodes if you’ve not yet jumped in.
Available to stream on Prime Video.
Jerry Springer: Fights, Camera, Action
As someone who was born in 1984, I grew up during the talk show boom, and Jerry Springer was on tv constantly in the 90s, even here in the U.K. Watching it back then, I didn’t really understand the exploitative nature of it, so I approached this documentary both looking for some nostalgia and also with trepidation. It’s a fairly light look back at the show, and skips over quite a lot of stuff. It wasn’t bad by any means, but it probably could have been a single feature rather than two parts.
Available to stream on Netflix.
There’s a whole bunch of sports movies and documentaries coming out in 2025. I feel like we’ve been getting a lot of trailers over the last few days, so here’s a few things I’m looking forward to:
I’ve heard such great things about Eephus from the festival circuit, and I can’t wait to finally see it for myself.
I don’t care much for the Red Sox, but I’m always here for any baseball stuff on Netflix.
Similarly, I’m a Knicks but I’m also a huge fan of Bill Simmons, and will watch, read or listen to pretty much anything he and the Ringer puts out. This should be good!
And finally, I can’t wait to review this one and discuss it with you guys. F1 action from the guy who brought us Top Gun: Maverick? I’m there!
As usual, let me know what you’re watching or what you’re planning to go see. Let’s get back on to the field!
SECOND HALF ⚾️
Let’s jump into some awards and bonus content.
BEST SCENE 🏆
I absolutely adore Susan Sarandon’s opening monologue. It sets the scene for the whole film perfectly.
But I also love this one. LOLLYGAGGERS!
BEST LINE 🏆
Annie: “I believe in the Church of Baseball”
MVP AWARD 🏆
It’s Susan Sarandon. As great as all three are, she’s the anchor of the film and delivers one of the best performances of her career. “Oh my!”
TRIVIA HIGHLIGHT 🏆
Per IMDb:
Ron Shelton cast Tim Robbins over the strong objections of the studio, who wanted Anthony Michael Hall instead. Shelton had to threaten to quit before they backed off.
BEST LETTERBOXD REVIEW 🏆
The one and only Sean Fennessey from The Ringer with the perfect Letterboxd review.
BONUS FEATURES 💿
Here’s Kevin Costner on the Dan Patrick Show talking about actually hitting the ball during the making of the movie.
And talking to Jimmy Kimmel a few years ago as the movie turned 30 years old. If anyone knows how I can get one of those bobble-heads too, please let me know!
Here’s director Ron Shelton talking about the inspiration behind the character of Nuke.
POST-GAME ⚾️
Since it’s NBA All Star weekend, and as we approach the second half of the season, I thought we’d turn to basketball next week with a more recent release - Champions.
As always, let me know what you thought of Bull Durham and let me know what else you’ve been watching, and what you’d like me to review next.
See you next week! 👋🏻
~James
Big fan of this film and agree that Susan Sarandon is the centre of the film.
This was such a great read, I really enjoy the layout of your reviews it makes reading them a lot of fun. I watched Bull Durham for the first time a few years ago after picking the DVD up at a pawn shop, I went in expecting a baseball movie and was so surprised by how much romance/drama/comedy there was. Still, I really enjoyed it and agree that Susan Sarandon was incredible in it.
I recently watched September 5 as well and I put up a review for it, it reminded me of a play given that much of it is set in a single location and the movie relied mostly on dialogue to progress the plot.