June 15, 1988 | Bull Durham is a riotously funny and rigorously earthy romantic comedy about life, love and the pursuit of baseballs. Scriptwriter Ron Shelton (Under Fire) scores a grand slam triumph in his rookie effort as a feature director, fielding a team of all-star players and never committing a single error.
Shelton, a former minor-league baseball player, has set his story in a world he knows like the back of his fielder’s glove. In Durham, N.C., the free-spirited Annie Savoy (Susan Sarandon) has established herself as a part-time teacher and full-time baseball groupie. Each spring, she selects a promising player on the minor-league Durham Bulls, and coaches the lucky man to greatness on the diamond. And in her bed. But Annie has her standards: She won’t sleep with a ballplayer batting less than .250 “unless he’s a great glove man up the middle, or a pitcher who can blow serious smoke.”
This year, Annie spots two extremely promising prospects in the bullpen. Ebby Calvin “Nuke” LaLoosh (Tim Robbins), a budding superstar, is a pitcher whose high hard one is unsafe at any speed. Unfortunately, Nuke has very little self-control on either playing field where Annie is expert. Or, as a less charitable observer remarks, Nuke pitches like he makes love: “All over the place.”
And then there’s Crash Davis (Kevin Costner), a veteran catcher who has spent most of his 12-year career in the minors as “the player to be named later.” He has an impressive batting average, and even made it to The Show (i.e., the major leagues) for three glorious weeks years ago. But there are some games Crash simply won’t play: He refuses to compete with Nuke to score with Annie. Still, he agrees to help Nuke gain some control of his wild pitching arm, if only so the rookie doesn’t accidentally decapitate a teammate.
Annie also does her bit to help the Bulls. “When you learn how to make love,” she tells Nuke, “you’ll know how to pitch.” She is a great teacher.
And he is a rapt pupil, even when she advises him to wear a garter belt under his baseball uniform. But as she’s filling his callow head with mystical mumbo-jumbo and excerpts from Walt Whitman, Annie can’t help thinking about the other prime contender in the Durham dugout.
Bull Durham sustains a bracing erotic tension as it follows the romantic triangle on and off the baseball diamond. Susan Sarandon, who radiates sensuality the same way some people glow with an all-year tan, is perfectly cast as Annie, the colorful and frankly carnal sports fan. Sarandon brings a sultry spin and a fierce intelligence to the character’s flamboyance, making Annie one of the most level-headed voluptuaries in movie history.
In her quiet moments, Annie admits to a certain anxiety about life passing her by even as she chases new lovers. Crash also worries about getting older, especially since he’s in a game that belongs to players who get younger every year. So it’s only a matter of time, of course, before he and Annie recognize each other as soul mates.
Kevin Costner gives a winning and well-rounded performance as Crash, whose sharp-edged cynicism is just skin deep. Deep down, as Costner shows us, the catcher is wistful about might-have-beens, and desperate for just one more season.
Just as important, Costner is a steamy, self-assured leading man when it comes to romantic huddles. Trend spotters, take note: What Costner did for limousines in No Way Out, he does here for the Breakfast of Champions. He downs a bowl of Wheaties, then tosses Sarandon onto the kitchen table. Hot stuff.
Tim Robbins, last seen as the budding civil rights activist in Five Corners, rounds out the triangle with his exuberant portrayal of Nuke. Cocksure even in his klutziness, Nuke is a fireballing phenomenon who’s just bright enough to know he has a lot to learn. In a weird sort of way, he becomes the surrogate offspring of Crash and Annie, learning from his elders and then moving on.
There’s a hilarious scene where Crash tells Nuke how to spin cliches for the press; much later, there’s an equally funny pay-off, when Nuke proves he learned his lessons well. In both scenes, Robbins covers all the bases. He never makes a false move as Nuke evolves from impulsive hothead to smooth operator.
The lead players are given strong support by a wonderful back-up team. Of particular note are Houston-born Trey Wilson as the grizzled manager of the Durham Bulls, and Robert Wuhl as the team’s motor-mouthed pitching coach. Both actors contribute generously to the movie’s most hilarious scene, a conference on the pitcher’s mound where everything but baseball is discussed.
The dialogue often is locker-room salty, but there’s also a beguiling sweetness to Bull Durham. Shelton’s script is big-hearted in its humor: a born-again player isn’t played for cheap laughs, and his romance with a small-town floozie doesn’t end as you might expect. The mood turns unexpectedly melancholy near the end, as two players acknowledge the limitations of their games. But this curve ball pitch actually enhances the film’s special texture.
Bull Durham, to paraphrase Annie’s favorite poet, is large enough to contain multitudes of emotions. Quite simply, this terrific movie is one for the record books.
