Let me just say right now (and you’ll notice this a lot more once I’ve had a chance to work through reviews of the 1000 films I own), I rate Robert De Niro as one of the 5 greatest actors who have ever lived. You’ll have to keep coming back to find out who the other four are…
In the same breath, Tony Scott is without any hesitation, one of greatest Directors that Hollywood has ever produced. He has a style that (alongside genius uber-film maker, Michael Bay) is a frenetic, ultra stylized concoction of action, sound, rapid imagery and splicing that entertains like nothing else. You could suffer with narcolepsy and this direction would have you sitting upright like you downed 10 double espressos with a red bull. It’s phenomenal.
Prior to Enemy of the State, Spy Game, Man on Fire, Domino and Deja Vu (yeah… I know… he did all those. You see why this guy is a legend!) but after, Top Gun, Beverly Hills Cop 2, Revenge, Days of Thunder, The Last Boy Scout, True Romance (which boasts one of the greatest scenes in cinema history) and Crimson Tide (amazing isn’t it… this guy is unbelievable… not a dud yet!), Tony directed the 1996 film – THE FAN.
Robert De Niro is Gil Renard. Divorced. Knife salesman. Baseball fanatic. And, all round unpleasant fellow if you get in his way or piss him off. His favourite up and coming baseball player, Bobby Rayburn (Snipes) has just been traded to Gil’s favourite team. It’s a match made in heaven and it’s going to be an almighty season. But, Bobby is in the worst slump of his career.
The slump, is just the start of Gil’s problems. His wife’s got a restraining order against him, he can’t see his son – whom he truly cares about and to top it off, the knife manufacturing company he works for – which was once owned by his father, are less than one home run away from firing him.
He believes the only way to make everything right again, will be to get Bobby back to No.1 (or should I say No.11). And that’s the point where De Niro gets to do what he does best – turn it up a notch and evolve into an unstoppable psychopath. He’s not quite in Max Cady mode… but a close second and is definitely having fun with the character. ‘Hey Bobbbbbby!’
Snipes is also at the top of his game. It breaks me to see him in a role like this and then fast forward to today where he’s direct-to-dvd, fighting the US Taxman and nothing more than a shadow of his former self. Look, I agree he was never a Sidney Poitier, but at least he made action films worth watching (Passenger 57, Drop Zone, Murder at 1600) rather than falling into the ‘has-been pit’ that other action stars of the 80’s (JCVD and Steven Seagal) find themselves in today. His last film was called ‘Gallow-Walker’ about a cursed cowboy hunting zombies in the Desert. And it was filmed in Namibia. His female co-star was South African model, Tanit Phoenix. Good for her. For him – ??
Anyway, back to better times in ’96. He plays the character with ease. His sporty nature coupled with a light air of arrogance that follows all celebrities (in this case – sports star) when they hit the big time, works to his advantage. His performance is very good and very believable. In my opinion, one of his best films. It’s also very well written and the dialogue is free flowing and pertinent. Unlike the wham-bam-thank-you-man bubble gum scripts written for direct to crap these days. I swear blind some of the dialogue is written in their sleep. And then it’s so crap, the stars spend more time in the recording studio dubbing their lines than they actually spent shooting on set.
De Niro and Snipes are followed by a very able supporting cast, the best of which are John Leguizamo, Ellen Barkin and Benecio Del Toro (just after his role in The Usual Suspects) who are all very reliable.
The movie moves along at a very swift pace. Tony’s direction never lets it drag and the film is incredibly entertaining. De Niro is of course the draw card here and I’m sure he was given the freedom to ad-lib some of his dialogue which always serves him well. He is master-class, and oozes an ability that is spared only for other actors of his calibre. This scores a decent home run – 7/10 – and is a must see, especially to hear Carlos Santana’s, Samba Pa Ti used to full dramatic effect in one the finest scenes in the film. I’m going to actually watch this one again tonight… for love of the movie.