The Fan (1996)

From Tony Scott, the director of TOP GUN, CRIMSON TIDE, and MAN ON FIRE, brings us the 1996 psychological thriller that revolves around the sport of baseball and exploring the overt dedication displayed by some of its fanatics called THE FAN. The film tells the story of Bobby Rayburn (Wesley Snipes), a three-time MVP Major League Baseball center-fielder who has signed a $40 million contract to play for the San Francisco Giants. No one is happier than Gil Renard (Robert De Niro), a struggling knife salesman and #1 diehard fan of both the Giants and the game of baseball. When Bobby gets into the worst slump of his career, the obsessed Gil stops at nothing to help him regain his former glory, but goes a little too far. The film also stars Ellen Barkin (Diner) as sports radio host Jewel Stern, John Leguizamo (Spawn) as Bobby’s cocky agent Manny, Patti D’Arbanville (TV’s New York Undercover) as Gil’s ex-wife Ellen Renard, Charles Hallahan (The Thing) as Gil’s old Little League teammate Coop, and Benicio Del Toro (Traffic) as Bobby’s rival teammate Juan Primo. I was seven years old when this film came out and I never saw it till I was fourteen when it was shown on television. At first, I didn’t like it. But when I saw it again, I really started to enjoy it and it’s one of my favorite films of both De Niro's and Tony Scott’s. Hans Zimmer, who composed Scott’s previous film CRIMSON TIDE, composed the music in some the film’s dramatic sequences, including the opening with De Niro narrating a poem about his love for the game and the final scene between De Niro and Snipes on the wet and rainy field. The film also features some of The Rolling Stones’ classics hits “Start Me Up”, “Gimme Shelter”, “Shattered”, and “Sympathy for the Devil”. Filmed from October 24th, 1995 to February 23rd, 1996 with an estimated budget of $55,000,000, THE FAN was released on August 16th, 1996, earning $6,271,406 it’s opening weekend. But soon, the film was both pleased by movie critics and movie goers with a total domestic gross of $18,626,419. All of the baseball game sequences were filmed at not just Giants then-home Candlestick Park, but at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, Angel Stadium of Anaheim, and Denver’s Coors Field. De Niro’s performance as the maniacal Renard earned him a 1997 MTV Movie Award nomination for Best Villain, but lost to Jim Carrey for his work in THE CABLE GUY. However, Ellen Barkin’s performance won her the 1997 Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Supporting Actress – Adventure/Drama. If you love both Baseball and psychological thrillers, THE FAN has both those things and I recommend it to all movie lovers.