The Fan

Year: 1996
Genre: Drama thriller
Director: Tony Scott


Plot: A down on his luck knife salesman becomes obsessed with an all star baseball player who is struggling to live up to his expensive price tag.


The gist: I almost had no idea that the late Tony Scott directed this thriller. It's not as famous as his other works like Top Gun, Man On Fire and Enemy Of the State, but it's quite good on its own actually.

So here we have Gil Renard, a knife salesman who is having a hard time getting his life together. He's having trouble meeting his sales numbers, he's not being a good enough father to his young son and his ex-wife keeps trying to stop him from seeing his kid. Baseball is the only thing he loves that he can fall back on, and in that regard, he continues to support the Giants' all star player Bobby Rayburn, despite the guy having a hard time living up to his reputation.

Bobby himself isn't the most likable of people, thinking that he is as good as his agent says he is. That is until he finally gets back on track, which may or may not have something to do with Gil's actions. As a fan, Gil is willing to do anything to see Bobby succeed, but how far will he go?

The script is solid for the most part, allowing both Robert DeNiro and Wesley Snipes to shine equally. The best part is you don't have to be a fan of baseball to understand this movie.

Special mention must be made to the film's opening and ending sequences; the former being a poem about one's love for baseball voiced by DeNiro, the latter a glimpse of old photos while a song by Terence Trent D'arby hauntingly plays.


The good: DeNiro and Snipes are great in their roles as Gil and Bobby. DeNiro gains the audience's sympathy despite being the antagonist here, playing a tragic character who goes off the deep end. Snipes is pretty good in a non-action role for once, showing some good acting chops. Ellen Barkin and John Leguizamo provide some nice support as well.

The bad: The film drags from time to time, so some tighter editing would have been nice. 


Verdict: It's an underrated thriller that deserves at least one watch. (3.5/5)