The Fan (1996 film)

Infobox_Film
name =The Fan
imdb_id = 0116277


caption = The Fan movie poster
producer =Wendy Finerman
writer = Peter Abrahams (novel)
Phoef Sutton (screenplay)
starring = Robert De Niro
Wesley Snipes
Benicio del Toro
John Leguizamo
Ellen Barkin

director = Tony Scott
editing = Claire Simpson
distributor = Columbia Pictures
released =August 16, 1996 (USA)
runtime = 116 min.
language = English
music =Hans Zimmer

awards =Blockbuster Entertainment Award
budget = $55,000,000 (estimated)

"The Fan" is a 1996 American thriller film starring Robert De Niro and Wesley Snipes. It was directed by Tony Scott and based on the novel of the same name by Peter Abrahams. "The Fan" is a psychological thriller that follows Gil Renard (De Niro) as he progresses into his own insanity. The majority of the film revolves around the sport of baseball, and explores the overt dedication displayed by some of its fanatics.

Plot Summary

Gil Renard, a struggling knife salesman, is a temperamental divorcé who has been neglecting his responsibilities - namely his son, whom Gil awkwardly attempts to parent, and his job, which he is on the verge of losing due to poor sales. Between balancing the two, Gil displays a fervent loyalty to his favorite sport, baseball, and his favorite team, the San Francisco Giants. Gil has been following the career of the Giants' newest player, Bobby Rayburn (Snipes), since day one. Overjoyed that his favorite player has partnered with his favorite team, Gil begins to take an even greater risk with his job by attending several games during work hours. In an attempt to repair his destitute relationship with his son, Gil forces Richie to skip school in order to watch a game with his father.

To Gil's excitement, the extensively hyped Rayburn quickly begins to deliver, and the fans respectfully display their appreciation. However, after Rayburn suffers a chest injury, his performance begins to decline, and the fans likewise criticize his inability to live up to their expectations. The frustrated Gil, who has just lost his job, begins to aggressively show his loyalty and support to his favorite player. Instead of enjoying the time spent watching the Giants' games, Gil engages in altercations with other fans, often to the point of overzealousness.

Gil's ex-wife, Ellen, is disgusted by her former husband's irresponsibility and works to stop him from seeing their son, who gradually begins to fear his father. Ellen's attempts succeed, and Gil is issued a restraining order against his son. With his job and son lost, Gil delves deeper into a dark, aggressive disposition from which he will not escape. The fanatic Gil Renard once again turns to his love for baseball to solve his problems, and decides that a teammate of Rayburn's, Juan Primo (del Toro), is to blame for his favorite player's slump. Gil confronts Primo in a sauna and explains to the ballplayer that he believes Rayburn's decline in play is directly the result of Primo's competitiveness, since Rayburn took over Primo's spot at center field, but did not let him use his lucky number of 11 on his jersey. When Primo brushes off the fan's concerns, Gil proceeds to murder the left fielder with one of his makeshift knives.

While San Francisco grieves at the death of a beloved ballplayer, Rayburn begins feeling guilty for his teammate's death. Ironically, shortly after Primo's death, Rayburn starts playing well again, ending his slump. Gil, convinced that what he did was a service to Rayburn and the Giants, becomes even more personal with his fanaticism towards Rayburn. Eventually, he comes across Rayburn's beach house, making himself out to be an innocent, harmless fan who stumbled onto private property. Rayburn is greatly relieved when Gil helps save his son who nearly drowns, and invites him inside.

After conversing about baseball and the like, Gil and Rayburn engage in a game of catch on the beach. During their conversation, Rayburn admits that the reason for his recent streak is due to the fact that he just stopped caring about the game after the death of Juan Primo because there were more important things in life than baseball. Rayburn goes on by telling Gil that he lost some respect for the fans, remarking that when he performs well, they love him, and when he slumps, they hate him. Gil's temper rises when he hears his favorite player criticize the fans of the game. He begins playing aggressive with the ballplayer, and eventually speaks his mind on the matter, slightly disturbing Rayburn. Gil eventually leaves the beach house, but Rayburn discovers that Gil has kidnapped his son and is fleeing in his Hummer.

Gil, disillusioned with his Rayburn's disrespect towards the fans, spirals further down into insanity, pretending that Rayburn's son is his own, and eventually killing a former friend of his on the way to a little league baseball field where he plans to hide the center fielder's son. After doing such, Gil contacts Rayburn and makes one demand: hit a home run in the upcoming game, dedicating it to Gil, "a true fan," or his son dies. With the police on high alert, while at the same time searching for Rayburn's son, Gil enters 3Com Park. Gil, under the disguise of the home plate umpire (who he presumably killed before stealing his uniform), watches as Rayburn struggles with his emotions at the plate. After several pitches, Rayburn is able to place the ball deep into the outfield, and begins running the bases. Rayburn, attempting to score an inside-the-park home run, comes into a close play at the plate. He is called out, though it appears that he is indeed safe. Rayburn begins to argue with the umpire, accusing him of letting his son die due to what he sees as a lousy call. The umpire upholds his decision, but it doesn't take Rayburn long to figure out the umpire is his son's kidnapper. Dozens of police swarm onto the field, pointing their firearms at the maniacal Gil Renard. Gil, despite warnings from the police officers, goes into a pitching motion with a knife in hand, and is shot dead before he can continue his wind-up.

The movie ends with the police discovering Rayburn's son at Gil's hideout at the little league diamond, and they uncover his obsession with Rayburn, as hundreds of newspaper clippings adorn the mentally deranged fan's hideout. But the final moments are not of pictures of Rayburn-- but of Gil in all his prime and glory as an adolescent player at the little league diamond.

Reception

The film received mixed reactions both critically and commercially. However, both De Niro and Snipes' performances were applauded.

Box office

The film brought in $18,626,419 in the United States and Canada. [http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=weekend&id=fan.htm]

Quotes

*Gil: The most beautiful play in the game is a sacrifice fly, you know why?
Son: 'Cause you give yourself up for the team?
Gil: And it doesn't even count against your average. That's why baseball's better than life - it's fair.

*Gil: Don't you talk back to me! You show me some respect! Without people like me, you're nothing! We're the ones that get you your 40 fuckin' million!

*Rayburn: Look, what do you want?
Gil: What do I want? I want every time they think of you, they're gonna think of me.

*Gil: I never got to show you my best pitch.

*Gil: Bobby, now do you care? Bobby! Now do you care? Just a little bit?

*Gil: Hey, yo Bobby!

*Gil: Throw the fuckin ball!

*Gil: Yeah, well Jason Pelligrin's dad takes it up the ass.

*Gil: A simple "thank you" would have been nice.

Trivia

*Wesley Snipes, who played Bobby Rayburn, had Cal Ripken, Jr. as a personal batting coach for the film.

*Snipes previously played the role of Cleveland Indians center fielder Willie 'Mays' Hayes in the 1989 comedy movie Major League.

*Rayburn's lucky number, 11, is a retired number in the Giants' club, belonging to pitcher Carl Hubbell.

*Frank Darabont, director and screenwriter of films such as "The Shawshank Redemption" and "The Green Mile", contributed a draft to the script, though uncredited.

*Major League Baseball does not allow live game action to be shown on scoreboards, nor would a team be permitted to have a video board in the center field area as shown in the movie. MLB also has a policy against showing player arguments or fights on the videoboards.

*One of Rayburn's teammates was played by former MLB star John Kruk. By the time the movie was released, he already retired from pro baseball. Although in the movie he plays for the San Francisco Giants, he never played for them during his career.

*In the beginning of the film, Rayburn expresses surprise and displeasure with the uniform number (33) the Giants had assigned him. This incident is supposed to be taking place the day before the season opens. Uniform numbers are almost always assigned before Spring Training begins.

* Although this film is supposedly set in San Francisco, one scene mistakenly shows Gil driving down a southern California freeway towards Glendale.

*In one scene where it is focused on a Primo at bat, it first shows him wearing the Gray San Francisco Giants away jersey, but then when the at bat gets replayed on the stadiums video screen it shows him wearing the white home uniforms.

*There is also a television scene from a real life Giants game when Gil is watching the game from his apartment that shows Barry Bonds on second base.

*Throughout the entire movie different versions of "Closer" by Nine Inch Nails are played, most of which are in the form of remixes such as "Closer to God", "Closer (Precursor)" and "Closer (Further Away)" which can be found on the Closer to God EP.

*After Primo's pregame montage Dodger Stadium is clearly shown in a helicopter view instead of Candlestick Park, even though it is a Giants home game.

External links

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* [http://movies.yahoo.com/shop?d=hv&cf=info&id=1800263585 "The Fan"] at Yahoo! Movies