Smartorhypo Highly Overrated But Still Good

HeadlinesExotic Boring

Salubfoto It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.

PiraBit if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

edwagreen 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. He is divorced from his wife who gets out a restraining order when he shows irresponsibility regarding their young son.With his life heading southward fast, De Niro really takes a magnetic look at Westley Snipes, a baseball star, just signed by the Giants at a whopping contract. He makes calls to sports shows and is a virtual regular on a show hosted by tough talking Ellen Barkin.The film goes over to violence as De Niro handles Benecio Del Toro, Snipes' rival on the team.The last scene is out of a baseball inning nightmare.

aforandromeda From the opening scenes of 'The Fan', it's all too obvious that the late Tony Scott was a strange choice of director for a suspense thriller. 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. Gil is also divorced and struggling to manage access to his son.When opening day arrives, separate incidents mark a serious downturn in fortunes for both Gil and Bobby, with Gil eventually developing a disturbing obsession with the slugger, thus setting off a frightening chain of events.'The Fan' is remarkable for a suspense thriller in that it lacks any real suspense. Although Tony Scott wasn't helped by a threadbare and illogical script, the clunky camera-work and jumpy editing mar any feeling of involvement or tension for the viewer in many of the scenes, with the excessive use of close ups beginning to grate after a while. Also, the baseball scenes feel very unnatural and stagey. Most regrettable are the attempts to portray the characters' motivations to the audience, which are two dimensional at best, downright lazy at worst. As the movie jumps from one unlikely encounter and set of circumstances to another, all credibility quickly unravels.What rescues this movie from outright mediocrity are the excellent performances from a terrific cast, with De Niro and Snipes both being engaging despite their rather clichéd and poorly scripted roles. The supporting cast is top drawer, with John Leguizamo as Bobby's unscrupulous agent and Ellen Barkin's languid radio host being highlights, especially in their all too brief scenes together.Over and above the poor quality of the script, you're left with the impression that this is a movie with plenty of style but little in the way of substance. A different choice of director would have helped this movie be more than the mediocre pulp fare that it is, as although Scott was a fine director, creating tension and projecting believable characters was not his forte. Although 'The Fan' is fairly watchable in parts, by the time the hammy and frankly ludicrous final act is over, you're left with a feeling that it could all have been so much better.

slightlymad22 In this psychological thriller, Robert De Niro fresh off Casino and Heat, stars as a down on his luck salesman who becomes obsessed with his favourite baseball player Wesley Snipes, who despite his last few movies Drop Zone, Money Train flopping, was still popular after success in movies like 'Demolition Man' with Sly Stallone and 'Rising Sun' with Sean Connery, both of which grossed over $100 million dollars.De Niro who has contributed some tough fisted, hard as nails characters over the years is walked over and insulted by people early on as salesman Gil, but he remains as intense as always. Snipes is charismatic and likable as the Giants new record signing Bobby Rayburn.Benico Del Toro is annoyingly effective as Rayburn's rival player. John Leguizamo puts in a fine performance as Rayburn's agent. Ellen Barkin pops up as the local sports reporter, intent on getting the story if the star player is worth $40 million. And look for a blink and you'll miss him Jack Black working for Barkin.Given the talent involved, I'm surprised this failed to find an audience, as Tony Scott's direction keeps things moving at a steady pace and it is an intense movie that whilst not a home run is more than watchable.Worth checking out at least once.

raisleygordon DeNiro gives an okay, but one-note performance as a dedicated baseball fan who, as a result of his fixation on Bobby Rayburn (#11), loses his job and family. Other than to show that he has a bad temper, I don't see how they are relevant to the movie. I think too much time is spent on the scenes at home, on the job, and on the baseball game itself. And DeNiro's acting just didn't seem genuine at all. In most movies about people who go from obsessing to stalking, this line is crossed at about halfway through the movie. But here, it doesn't happen until almost the very end, which is too little too late. Also, how could the Benicio Del Toro have really been killed if this was only seen in Renard's mind? Or did I miss something? It's not a bad movie, but it could have been more.** out of ****