Bull Durham: Chick Flick?

(written 4/20/07)

Last week, I was cruising the Internet trying to kill time in the existence known to some people as work. I had been to the websites I visit on a daily basis: Myspace, ESPN, Hornfans, and the Onion. Somehow I came across Rotten Tomatoes' website, which is movie rating website, and found a banner that listed the "Greatest Sports Movies of All-Time". Obviously this got my attention, and after clicking on the link to see what they had listed from 50-1, well, I had some bones to pick. Any site that has Friday Night Lights behind Beyond the Mat is flawed; throw in the fact that Caddyshack was listed at #49 makes me wonder if they have seen these movies to begin with. But this wasn't my main qualm, Bull Durham was listed as the #1 Sports Movie of all time, which I have no problem watching, it's a great movie. The movie is about baseball, sex, and well, that's about it. But here is my qualm: Bull Durham is a chick flick.

I haven't had a serious girlfriend for a couple of years now; but one thing I remember about dating my ex-girlfriends was being dragged to watch chick-flicks at the movies. I guess I thought if she was willing to watch the Texas Chainsaw Massacre then maybe I should be okay with watching A Guy Thing. It's not that I have a problem watching chick-flicks, I really don't, but what I do have a problem with is the whole plot that usually accompanies them. The Lake House is a fantastic example of that; what a complete, and utter, load of crap. I don't know what is more impressive from my standpoint, critiquing a movie with Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock (Diane Lane All-Star), or admitting to watching The Lake House. Either way, that can't be good for my morale. This isn't to say I don't like chick-flicks because, honestly, I do, but there are only a few, here are my Top 10 Favorite Chick Flicks of All-Time.

10b) Pure Country: The country version of a chick flick; one of George Strait's best soundtracks/CDs.

10a) What Women Want: Martin Riggs and an underappreciated Helen Hunt, even though the plot is insane, still watchable/tolerable.

9) A Lot Like Love: Even with Ashton, it's an entertaining movie, albeit PG-13. Ashton covering Bon Jovi's "I'll Be There for You" counts for something.

8) 40 Days, 40 Nights: Even with Josh Harnett, and Ruben from Road Trip, not a bad movie at all…and gracious nude scenes.

7) Garden State: Give her credit, Natalie Portman is able to overcome Zach Braff's acting in this flick; superb soundtrack.

6) Say Anything: John Cusack + Peter Gabriel's "In Your Eyes" = winner.

5) How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days: I can't believe I thoroughly enjoyed this one. Seriously. Features an underrated Kate Hudson and Texas Ex, Matt McConaughey.

4) Where the Heart Is: I can't believe I bought this DVD and watch it…multiple times over.

3) A Walk to Remember: I swear, I love this movie. I just wished it was Shane West who had leukemia (not in real life though)

2) Must Love Dogs: Diane Lane ('nuff said) and John Cusack. Throw in Ryan Adams' "Dance All Night" and you have a great chick flick. Underrated movie.

1) Love, Actually: One of the best, and greatest, love, romantic-comedy, holiday, movies of the past 10 years…and a great soundtrack.

Of course, I left off a few all-time classics, like When Harry Met Sally, You've Got Mail, and Poison Ivy 3: The New Seduction, but you can't list them all. For those of you who know me, especially those of you who really know me, you're probably be surprised to know that I (a) watch chick-flicks (b) enjoyed at least 10 of them and (c) am single, due to cinematic reasons…but, then again when has John Cusack ever steered a guy in the wrong direction? Sixteen Candles doesn't count.

So, what constitutes a chick-flick? Basically, it's a movie that indulges in the hopes and dreams of girls, by using happy, sappy, sad, inspiring, upbeat, but mostly, unrealistic endings, sometimes. The premise is this: girl likes a guy, or vice versa, yet due to various circumstantial events, they aren't able to live happily ever after, until the last 15-20 minutes of the movie…unless the movie is A Walk to Remember where Shane West loses Mandy Moore, or Cruel Intentions when the world is better off without Ryan Phillippe…in those events, they didn't live happily ever after because one of the cast members dies.

All this brings me back to my original thought: Bull Durham is a chick-flick. In college, right before our first game of the year, our baseball coach would make us all watch Bull Durham in the Union at our college. I guess it was supposed to be a team bonding event, but after you've seen the movie 15 times, it loses it luster. (thankfully Coming to America hasn't) Anyway, here is the general plot to the movie if you haven't seen it. The Durham Bulls have a kid pitching sensation Nuke LaLoosh (Tim Robbins); he is long on talent, yet short on experience. To combat this, the team brings in a veteran catcher, Crash Davis (Kevin Costner) to guide Nuke and teach him about baseball and life. One caveat to mention is Annie Savoy (Susan Sarandon), a baseball groupie who chooses a player to sleep with the entire year; has chosen Nuke and over time becomes attracted to Crash. Nuke is called up to the Majors, Annie and Crash hook-up, and everyone lives happily ever after. Thrown in with a lot of memorable movie lines, cursing, and beliefs about baseball, it seems this has nothing to do with a chick flick…or does it?

In Bull Durham, baseball is the backdrop for the movie; it's not the centerpiece of the film, even though many people think it is. Yes, with well written dialogue, baseball may seem like that's the point of the movie, but don't kid yourself, the plot is to see how this seemingly odd love-triangle will work out. The interaction between the three principle characters is the whole movie; what affects Crash affects Nuke, and in turn what affects them ultimately affects Annie...a domino effect of human interaction and attraction. She likes one of the players but is committed to the other one, basically this seems like an elementary tale of having a crush on a certain player; and that's precisely what the case is here: a love tale.

What people are made to believe about this movie is that is tells you the ins and outs of baseball; which in a way it does. There are a lot of great lines in the movie and sayings a lot of baseball players have heard while they have been playing, but this alone doesn't make it a sports movie. A sports movie is a movie where the movie is about only one thing, winning: Major League, Friday Night Lights, Rocky, Hoosiers are true sports movies…there is no secret about what the objective is (winning), whether they achieve it (Major League, Hoosiers) or fail in trying (Rocky, Odessa Permian). And this is where Bull Durham fails, the movie has you wondering whether or not Nuke and Annie stay together, or if Crash and Annie hook up, or in some cases Crash and Nuke play pitch and catch and if Crash breaks the record, or if Nuke will make the show.

The movie itself is not a bad movie by any stretch of the imagination. It has America's two favorite pastimes: baseball and sex. Yet, what it fails to do is make the movie about one thing exclusively; either all about baseball, or all about sex. Summer Catch is similar, but less believable because Freddy Prinze Jr as a pitcher is bad, but not compared to him hooking up with Jessica Beil…that would never happened in real life. But, that's the problem with Bull Durham; it's a better production of Summer Catch.

I've been playing baseball since I was 7 years old year-round. The only thing I know how to do, and do well, is play baseball, at least I think…the relationship aspect, eh I'm not so good at….so you would think this is the perfect movie for me, but it's not. So often at times in the movie though, you wish they would cut away from the mushy-love scenes, and just focus on the baseball…or focus on the love scenes and leave the baseball alone. The producers don't do this: they focus on both of them and that's why it's a chick-flick, but it's a chick-flick catered towards men. This is why it's one of the greatest chick-flicks for men because it's about baseball and talks enough about baseball to consider it a sports flick, but in actuality the only drama is taking place between the three characters. If there was ever a movie you wanted to rent for you and your girlfriend and were undecided, get this one, it's perfect for the occasion because it has enough of both themes: love and baseball…not to be confused with another chick-flick, Love and Basketball.

This is why Bull Durham is not the greatest sports movie of all-time, much less baseball movie: Major League is the greatest baseball movie of all time, and Hoosiers has a strong argument for best sports movie ever. Bull Durham is what I call a "glick"…it's a combination of guy + chick + flick, thus the word, "glick". Other examples are Tin Cup, For Love of the Game, and Field of Dreams…all this brings me to my main point, besides Bull Durham not being the best sports movie of all-time: Kevin Costner is the great glick actor of our generation. This doesn't excuse him for Waterworld, JFK, or Robin Hood, but if he's in a movie about sports, rest assured, I'll be watching it, with or without a date. So until then, just remember "don't think, it can only hurt the ball club", apparently Brad Lidge hasn't seen Bull Durham, until next week…