The Fan (1996)

User Rating:

5.5/10   

Director:

Tony Scott

Writers (WGA):

Peter Abrahams (book)
Phoef Sutton (screenplay)

Release Date:

16 August 1996 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Sport | Thriller

Tagline:

Fear strikes.

Plot:

An all star baseball player becomes the unhealthy focus of a down on his luck salesman.

Plot Keywords:

Baseball | Fan | Murder | Salesman | Baseball Player

Awards:

1 win & 3 nominations

Cast

Robert De Niro	...	Gil Renard
Wesley Snipes	...	Bobby Rayburn
Ellen Barkin	...	Jewel Stern
John Leguizamo	...	Manny
Benicio Del Toro	...	Juan Primo
Patti D'Arbanville	...	Ellen Renard (as Patti D'Arbanville-Quinn)
Chris Mulkey	...	Tim
Andrew J. Ferchland	...	Richie Renard
Brandon Hammond	...	Sean Rayburn
Charles Hallahan	...	Coop
Dan Butler	...	Garrity
Kurt Fuller	...	Bernie
Michael Jace	...	Scalper
Frank Medrano	...	Leon, the Bartender
Don S. Davis	...	Stook

MPAA:

Rated R for strong language throughout and some intense violence.

Runtime:

116 min | Finland:112 min | Spain:114 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

SDDS (8 channels) | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Iceland:12 | Iceland:16 (video rating) | USA:R (certificate #34336) | Canada:A (Ontario) | Singapore:PG (cut) | Philippines:PG-13 | Singapore:M18 | New Zealand:R16 | Australia:MA | Finland:K-16 | France:U | Netherlands:16 | Norway:15 | Portugal:M/16 | South Korea:18 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Anaheim, California, USA

Company:

Mandalay Entertainment

Trivia:

The San Francisco Giants' number 11 is retired (Carl Hubbell).

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): At the beginning of Juan Primo's musical montage, the announcer introduces him as "Number 11, the right fielder, Juan Primo." But it was established earlier in the film that Primo played left field.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Gil Renard: [voiceover] Excited and anxious I await my dream / To escape, applaud, and embrace my team.

Movie Connections:

References Doctor Dolittle (1967)

Soundtrack:

FOREVER BALLIN'

It's Just A Game

Although The Fan has a baseball setting with the late Candlestick Park in San Francisco, it's not a baseball story. It's the dual story of a fan obsessed with baseball and his favorite player and that same player and his performance anxiety living up to the huge amount of money the Giants are paying him.

The title role is played by Robert DeNiro and a lot of his character is taken from what Michael Douglas had earlier did in Falling Down. DeNiro is the son of the founder of the company he works for, but dad having passed away long ago, the company is in different hands. DeNiro is not cutting it as a salesman of hunting knives (no pun intended) and he's having problems with his former wife Patty D'Arbanville-Quinn over visitation with his son.

At the same time multi-million dollar acquisition Wesley Snipes is having problems living up to the hype and he's looking like a big old bust. Especially next to new Giant sensation Benicio DelToro who is carrying the team with what looks like a Most Valuable Player season. Snipes is only doing well on one front, his relationship with his young son.

As his life falls apart DeNiro starts fixating on his favorite player and what he can do to help motivate him. After that this film gets truly bizarre.

But DeNiro who probably has more disturbed characters under his creative belt than any other actor around today keeps it all real. He's matched by Wesley Snipes who plays a Barry Bonds like superstar who gets a good life lesson by the end of the film.

In fact Snipes realizes it before the film ends. As he quite realistically says, it's just a game, it's not like we're out there discovering a cure for cancer. The problem is that there are too many out there, fans like DeNiro in sports and in show business who get way too caught up in it.

Look also for nice performances by Ellen Barkin who has a sports phone-in show and John Leguizamo as Snipes's agent and the wisest guy he has around him.