Play Ball!
This post was loaned to us from the author and blog owner, Michael Stradford of Tall Guys Gear Guide. http://www.tallguysgearguide.com
America's Pastime is in full swing. Baseball is starting to heat up around the country, from the Little Leagues to the Majors, the stadiums are jumping with the sound of balls to bats and vendors yelling, 'Peanuts! Popcorn! Soda!'
I'm not a huge baseball fan, probably because my hometown team, the Cleveland Indians, have had a less than stellar record since I've been on the planet. However, I've always enjoyed going to a game. And while I'm a lifelong American Leaguer, it's not the worst thing in the world to drive to Dodgers Stadium every so often to check out a game.
As we're in the midst of the season, it seems as good a time as any to suggest a few choice baseball flicks for your consideration. All of these are among the best cinema has to offer when it comes to tackling the difficult job of making baseball exciting and dramatic onscreen, without being clichéd.
1. Bull Durham (1988) Let's be clear, Baseball movies are Kevin Costner's domain. Three of the six films listed, star the Compton-born Costner. If Baseball is as American as apple pie, Costner's as American as Coca Cola. A former athlete, Kevin Costner infuses his sports characters with a natural, easy grace that is built for baseball. And nowhere is it more effective than in this classic contemporary comedy about Crash Davis, a veteran player in the minor leagues getting a young pitcher (Tim Robbins) ready for the Majors. Add to that an incendiary romance with Susan Sarandon as a local baseball guru, and you have one of the best movies ever made about any sport. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzX_K9pX3X0
2. The Natural (1984) If there's another actor who's more American than Kevin Costner, it's got to be Robert Redford. As Roy Hobbs, 'The Natural', Redford is an aging ballplayer with a mysterious past who appears out of nowhere in the late forties and turns Major League baseball upside down.
Unlike 'Bull Durham', 'The Natural' is a flat out drama, one that plays into the idea of the mythic hero and his journey to self-realization. Complimented by a stellar cast featuring Glenn Close, Robert Duvall and Darren McGavin, 'The Natural' is a timeless fable of love lost, love found and second chances. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DST3ZCnRgfw
3. Field of Dreams (1989) Costner's back in one of the most moving father-son films ever created. Costner is a farmer who hears voices that compel him to build a baseball diamond in his cornfield. He follows through and experiences a familial revelation that will change his life forever.
A drama tinged with fantasy, 'Field of Dreams' works best when you just watch it unfold. Supporting Costner is James Earl Jones (who looks so much like my father, that it still moves me), Ray Liotta and Burt Lancaster. Keep the Kleenex close by. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ut06d4dptWo
4. Bingo Long and the Travelling All-Stars and Motor Kings (1976) A big, boisterous comedy about a team of talented baseball players restricted to playing in the Negro Leagues in 1939. In addition to star Billy Dee Williams, James Earl Jones and especially Richard Pryor, set the stage for a great afternoon at the ballpark. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apUAK5EQiaw
5. For Love of the Game (1999) Who would have thought that the director of 'Army of Darkness' and 'Spider-Man' would know his way around a baseball movie? Well Sam Raimi proved that he knows home plate from centerfield in this drama about an aging pitcher's final game before retiring. Future Hall of Famer Billy Chapel (Costner) reflects on his life and career in flashback during the last go 'round. Coming ten years after 'Bull Durham', Costner offers a deeper, more poignant potrait of the player Crash Davis might have been if he made it to the Majors. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSz1KqZZvpc
6. 42 (2013) Jackie Robinson's story as the first Black man to enter the Major Leagues is told with an earnest conviction by director Brian Helgeland ('Payback', 'A Knight's Tale') and starring Chadwick Boseman as number 42, with Harrison Ford as Brooklyn Dodgers owner Branch Rickey. A well told tale with could have benefited from a less rigid storytelling structure, '42' is still a compelling document about one of the true pioneers of American development in the 20th Century. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9RHqdZDCF0
*42 is now available in the Hollywood section: http://www.filmfresh.com/film/42
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