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29 out of 31 people found the following comment useful :-
"Baseball Is Better Than Life, Because It's Fair...", 3 aprile 2001

Author: jhclues da Salem, Oregon

It may be true that everyone during their lifetime has fifteen minutes of fame, even if in most cases it only lasts about a minute and a half. And if that minute and a half comes early in life, how far into adulthood can you carry it with you, and when does a healthy memory become an obsession that finally blurs the line between reality and fantasy? `The Fan,' directed by Tony Scott and starring Robert De Niro and Wesley Snipes, is an intense and disturbing motion picture that examines that moment and the effects it can have on the lives of those either directly or indirectly involved. Here, the focus is on one Gil Renard (De Niro), a knife salesman in San Francisco and a die-hard Giants fan who is pumped about the acquisition during the off-season of superstar centerfielder Bobby Rayburn (Snipes), whom he believes will bring a pennant to the team. Once a player himself-- a pitcher-- Renard's life has since been on a downhill slide. Divorced, he has a young, little league aged son, Richie (Andrew J. Ferchland), with whom he has an unsettling relationship, and at work, his sales have been so poor his job is on the line. An angry, disturbed individual, Renard has reached a pivotal point in his life; for inspiration, he continually returns to the philosophies of the catcher from his playing days, Coop (Charles Hallahan), whom he considers one of the finest athletes he ever knew. And as his life continues to deteriorate, his obsessions begin to add further to the imbalance of his perceptions of reality, which finally lead him past a point of no return.

Scott's film, of course, has less to do with baseball than it does with how the game itself actually relates to life and the things that really matter. As Rayburn says at one point, `We're not curing cancer here.' But to those to whom life has been reduced to that minute and a half to which they still cling, the game can be everything. And it is just that unhealthy obsession that Scott examines in this film, that comparatively insignificant moment that in the obsessive mind becomes an episode of monumental importance that finally distorts any semblance of reality the individual may have left. What's truly frightening is that upon close scrutiny, in Renard there is much with which many viewers will be able to relate in one way or another: The anger, the frustration and perhaps the inability to let go of that minute and a half, even when it threatens to become more than just a pleasant memory, but an unhealthy lifeline to another place and another time that, in reality, may never have existed in the first place. It's like a search for self-esteem by the has-been-who-never-was, who can neither realize nor accept it's elusiveness. As Renard says to Richie, `Baseball is better than life, because it's fair. You hit a sacrifice fly and it doesn't count against your average.' An ideal that has forever eluded Renard; in his life, he's never been able to `give himself up for the team' and get anything in return for it.

As Renard, De Niro gives an explosive performance that at first glance may seem to have a bit of Travis Bickle and Max Cady in it-- which in fact it does-- though upon closer inspection, Renard is a unique character. Those with a disturbed mind may have traits in common, as these characters De Niro has portrayed certainly do; but De Niro has successfully given each of them an individual personality, and when viewed side by side, the differences are readily apparent. Bickle may be a sociopath, Cady a cold blooded killer; but Renard is a man who was just never able to get a handle on his life and has allowed his obsessions to dictate the choices he has made along the way. De Niro is simply a master of his craft, with the ability to make his characters so real that a performance like this one is often overlooked; this is Oscar worthy work for which he never received the acclaim he was due. His Renard is so like someone you would run into in your everyday life that in retrospect, it's scary. But it's the kind of performance we've come to expect from De Niro, and as usual, he does not disappoint.

Wesley Snipes, as well, gives a solid performance as Rayburn that is one of his best ever, which is not surprising when you consider with whom he was working. If you study De Niro's films, you may discover a common thread running through them with regard to his co-stars. De Niro has the ability to make those with whom he is working better; and it's something that stays with them forever after. Consider Christopher Walken and Meryl Streep before `The Deer Hunter,' or Ed Harris before `Jacknife.' Certainly they were exceptional talents before, but they have arguably been better since. And Snipes is no exception. Nor is Benicio Del Toro (Recipient of the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for `Traffic'), who gives a memorable turn here as Rayburn's rival outfielder, Juan Primo.

The supporting cast includes Patti D'Arbanville (Ellen),Ellen Barkin (Jewel), John Leguizamo (Manny), Chris Mulkey (Tim), Dan Butler (Garrity) and Brandon Hammond (Sean). A thought provoking thriller that gives some real insight into the cause and effect of the psyche of human nature, `The Fan' is like an open wound that may hit too close to home for some. And to dismiss this as just a `baseball' movie or another `action' flick would be a mistake, for there is much more here than meets the eye. In the end, those who pay attention will ultimately reap the rewards it proffers. I rate this one 9/10.

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19 out of 22 people found the following comment useful :-
"A Simple Thank You Would Have Been Nice", 26 settembre 2001
Author: mr_doright11 da Gresham, Oregon

This movie wasn't as bad as everyone says. I think it's safe to say that I am a fan of Robert De Niro, and that will certainly help if you like Robert De Niro to enjoy this movie. But I didn't enjoy this movie solely on the fact that I like De Niro, I thought Snipes gave an equally choice performance. The thrills in this movie were small, but they were satisfying. The ending is, without a doubt, the best part. There were other good thrills though, like the freezer scene.

I must say that I liked this movie a good deal. Its is not without its flaws, but in order to enjoy this movie, and a lot of other movies for that matter, you must look past the flaws, and just take it for what it is. Enjoy this movie for its handful of thrills, decent acting, and great music (I am a big fan of the Rolling Stones also). This is a good no-brainer with a creepy overtone, so just watch it for its pros, not its cons. 8/10

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5 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :-
Underrated. DeNiro plays another great S.O.B, 23 novembre 2007

Author: DarthVoorhees da United States

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

The Fan is the polar opposite of Field of Dreams and I loved it. Baseball movies have no spine to them whatsoever, they tend to all ways follow the same Pride of the Yankees formula where Baseball is a fraternal sport in which everything is okay. The Fan digs deeper.

Robert DeNiro plays Gil Bernard an odd knife salesman who loses the visitation rights to be with his son. Bernard vents his rage by following his San Francisco Giants religiously. Gil becomes obsessed with Bobby Rayburn, the Giants' new top paid center fielder. Rayburn believes in jinxes and wants his lucky jersey number back to end a slump. Gil gets it for him by killing his teammate. Gil confronts Rayburn who says his change of luck was due to his not caring anymore. Gil goes berserk and threatens to kill Rayburn's son if he doesn't due a Babe Ruth and hit a homer for him.

DeNiro represents the Fan who turns to MLB as an escape from real life. His Gil is a tragic character who only lives for the game and focuses on what he could have been and what he wants to force his son to become. We don't necessarily agree with him but we can better see what makes this villain tick.

Snipes Rayburn isn't a bad guy but he like the Arod's of day let's the fame get to his head. He undergoes a perspective change through the film as he questions what the game means to him.

The Fan is a great dark satire of baseball. We see all the aspects that are there but are so often ignored. The greed of the players and their agents, the sports writers eager to sink their teeth into the slumping hitter, and the fathers who try to pressure their children to live their athletic dreams through them.

My one complaint about the film is it's ending. It just seems far too over the top and unrealistic. Gil shouldn't have received that much attention at his death, it should have been a private confrontation between him and Rayburn.

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7 out of 9 people found the following comment useful :-
Don't like baseball? Watch it anyway., 19 maggio 2001
Author: Paul Knauer da Mannum, South Australia

Being from the UK, baseball is a sport I'm not particularly a big fan of. The sport though isn't important, the film is just great and can be enjoyed by even the most 'anti-baseball' person in the world!! Just as with Al Pacino's latest film, 'Any Given Sunday', the sport simply doesn't matter. De Niro is on top form, and though morally you know you should condone some of his actions in this film, you find yourself sympathising with him...until he really loses it! The (brief) scene where De Niro starts singing 'Start Me Up' by The Rolling Stones is (yet another) classic De Niro scene. Rating: Strike 3 out of 3.

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5 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :-
Flashy treatment can only take this material so far..., 23 maggio 2008

Author: moonspinner55 da redlands, ca

Robert De Niro as yet another crack-pot: this time, he's a baseball-obsessed knife salesman fixated on Wesley Snipes, the new $40 million pitcher for the San Francisco Giants. Based on the book by Peter Abrahams, the picture begins as a kinetic exercise of two diverse characters whose lives eventually cross, but the screenplay is so flimsy that it degenerates too soon into psycho-drama clichés, replete with gaping story holes and a manic finale. Director Tony Scott's flashy treatment helps it along for just over an hour before the bottom falls out. Solid acting by both De Niro and Snipes is a definite plus; Patti D'Arbanville-Quinn also scores in a terrific bit playing De Niro's ex-wife. ** from ****

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10 out of 17 people found the following comment useful :-
De Niro makes it all worthwhile (just), 30 aprile 2001

Author: Geofbob da London, England

A flawed movie, but worth seeing for De Niro's performance as Gil Renard, an increasingly crazed fan/stalker. Also, yet again, baseball shows itself as the sport most able to provide striking visual metaphors for the ups and downs of life (though, as a Brit, I've noted some of the specific criticisms aimed at the baseball sequences in this movie by IMDb commenters from the US).

Where the movie, via the genius of De Niro, certainly succeeds is in convincingly demonstrating how easily and quickly obsessive devotion can turn to obsessive hatred, when the object of that devotion fails to meet the assumptions of the extreme fan. Certainly, there's some of Max Cady, the Cape Fear psychotic, in his portrayal; but there's also a lot of Rupert Pupkin, the confused kidnapper and would-be comic from King of Comedy - both films, of course, directed by Martin Scorsese.

Where the film fails is in being too repetitive and, consequently, a bit too long; one or two of the scenes where Gil is trying to sell his knives are superfluous; and, when Gil is at the game with his son, why does the camera have to keep cutting to the woman in the crowd - once or twice would have been sufficient. Several of the scenes also seem derivative, especially those involving Dan Butler, as Garitty the sales manager, which echo Glengarry Glen Ross. A major unconvincing aspect is that surely a $40m signing, like Bobby Raybourn (Wesley Snipes), would be surrounded by a lot more razzmatazz than simply one not-too-effective agent (John Leguizamo).

But, on the whole, one to rent or watch on TV (as I've just done) if nothing more compelling is available.

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2 out of 2 people found the following comment useful :-
Death of a salesman, 8 aprile 2008

Author: jotix100 da New York

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Gil Renard's passion for baseball consumes him. In fact, the sport he loves seems to get the best of him. His own marriage has failed dismally; he is involved in an acrimonious divorce and his son seems to have taken to the new man in his mother's life. Gil, who is a sporting knives salesman, has problems with his clients to the point that his boss has no other alternative than to get rid of him.

What is Gil supposed to do? When his idol, Bobby Rayburn is hired for the San Francisco Giants, as an outfielder, Gil feels his team will have a chance for the pennant. His obsession will get the best of him. He even tries to influence another player into switching uniform numbers with his new idol. When all that fails, Gil decides to take a different path and ends up stalking Rayburn with terrible consequences.

"The Fan", directed by Tony Scott starts on an upbeat note. The film based on a Peter Abrahams book we didn't read, with a screenplay by Phoef Sutton, plays well until it has Gil Renard going nuts when his whole world crumbles.

Robert Deniro, under Mr. Scott's direction, does what he can to the script that has him playing the deranged Gil in ways that doesn't help the film. It's fun to watch Mr. Deniro impersonating Gil Renard, whose passion for the American pastime ruins his life. We get a hint of how he got involved in the sport at the end of the movie. Wesley Snipes makes one of the best appearances of his career. In minor roles we see a wasted Ellen Barkin, Benicio del Toro and John Leguizamo, among others.

This is a film for Mr. Deniro's fans.

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2 out of 2 people found the following comment useful :-
Not a perfect film, but I enjoyed it, 4 agosto 2000

Author: EmpressR da Maryland, USA

While I agree with some of the previous comments about the lack of attention to detail and the confusing cinematography, I really did enjoy this movie. The story itself is not particularly original and the ending is weak -- but I thought the build-up of Gil's (De Niro) character to be quite effective. Although Gil was what one would typically label a loser, I couldn't help but feel for the guy. Many movies about psychos/stalkers fail to give you any insight into why he's doing all these bad things -- all you know is that he's not a nice guy. This movie did a great job of portraying how Gil's volatile personality, his obsession with the baseball and with Bobby (Snipes) in particular, and his loss of everything else that mattered to him, ultimately led him to do what he did.

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6 out of 10 people found the following comment useful :-
Tense And Gripping Character Study, That Never Lets Go, With A Fantastic Story And 2 Amazing Performances From Robert De Niro And Wesley Snipes!, 20 settembre 2005

Author: (callanvass@hotmail.com) da victoria b.c canada

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

This is a tense and gripping character study that never lets go, with a fantastic story and 2 amazing performances from Robert De Niro and Wesley Snipes!. All the characters are wonderful, and i thought it was extremely suspenseful, plus Robert De Niro and Wesley Snipes are simply amazing in this!. It's extremely underrated and why it only has a 5.4 rating is beyond me!, as it should be much much higher in my opinion!. The finale is incredibly tense, and the people who think Welsy Snipes cannot act, watch this movie!, plus the baseball sequences are awesome!. The scene where De Niro kidnaps Snipe's son Shawn is really quite disturbing, and i loved the mind games from De Niro!, plus The ending was great in my opinion. Snipes does a really cool Barry Bonds impression, and i actually found Snipe's character really likable!, plus the opening narration was pretty cool!. Another disturbing scene is when De Niro visits Del Toro(Juan Primo) in the steam room, and i found the character development to be awesome!, plus the story is gripping and engrossing all the way!. This is a tense and gripping character study that never lets go with a fantastic story and 2 amazing performances from De Niro and Snipes and i say Go see it now!. The Direction is fantastic!. Tony Scott does a fantastic job here with outstanding and stylish camera work, great angles,and lots of other cool shots, plus he kept the film at an engrossing pace!. The Acting is wonderful!. Robert De Niro is AMAZING as always, and is amazing here, he is extremely unpredictable, very creepy,, was always interesting and mysterious, gave me the chills at at certain times, and put a lot of fantastic effort in his role, and in my opinion this is one of his most underrated performances he was amazing!. (De Niro Rules!!!!). Wesley Snipes is also AMAZING as always, and is amazing here, he is extremely likable, very charismatic, was wonderful in his emotional scenes, did a fantastic Barry Bonds impression, gave one of his best performances, and just did an amazing job overall!, he is also a very good Baseball player! (Snipes Rules!!!). Ellen Barkin is excellent with what she had to do as the reporter, she was hot, had an interesting character and just did an excellent job!, i liked her lots. John Leguizamo is a riot and cracked me up throughout, if only he had more screen time!, i loved him. Benicio Del Toro was good as Juan Primo, and did what he had to do very well. Andrew J. Ferchland and Brandon Hammond are both quite decent actually as the kids, and were not annoying at all!, look out for John Kruk in a small role as a teammate. Rest of the cast do fine. Overall Go see it now!, it's so underrated!. ***** out of 5

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1 out of 1 people found the following comment useful :-
lucky tie, lucky guy..., 9 febbraio 2008

Author: coreyno1 da United Kingdom

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Three-times MVP baseball player Bobby Rayburn joins San Fransisco Giants, and obsessive fan, whose profession is selling hunting knives, Gil Renard is excited over that.

But Rayburn plays the worst season of his career and Renard tries to do everything to help him, but goes too far..

this has to be one of the best ideas for a film starring De Niro, who is always good at playing people with personal issues, but the flashy editing and loud music thanks to Scott, take the edge off Gil a little.

but ignoring that, we have an interesting insight in what it would be like to be obsessed with something or someone so much, you would do anything to bring them back in the limelight.

De Niro is on fire as the titular character and has anger management problems, especially with his clients and estranged wife, he doesn't realise that this is affecting his son, for instance when he gets aggressive at the opening day, he's just a kid who wants everything to go right for his one true love.

Snipes is also good as Rayburn, but becomes more of a caricature of himself later on in the film.

but this is one of my guilty pleasures and i could watch it all the time, thanks to De Niros delusional character and Scotts great (if sometimes annoying directing) really worth seeing.

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