The Fan (1996) * *

Directed by:  Tony Scott

Starring:  Robert DeNiro, Wesley Snipes, John Leguizamo, Benicio Del Toro, Ellen Barkin

I don't know if there are sports fans out there willing to go to the lengths Gil Renard (DeNiro) does to ensure his favorite player breaks out of his slump, but I can not say it would surprise me if there were.   The Fan would have been wise to focus unmercifully on Renard instead of transforming into a run-of-the-mill thriller in which the crazy baddie terrorizes his favorite player only to get his in the end.    The Fan is all too happy to head in the latter direction and it is a shame.    A later movie named Big Fan (2009), which starred Patton Oswalt as a diehard New York Giants fan, had more insight into the special type of fan who calls sports radio talk shows and is willing to protect a player who beat him up just to ensure the Giants win on Sunday.   

I would like to think the average sports fan handles his or her team's performance in an even-keeled manner.    The good feelings following a win or bad feelings following a loss do not usually last longer than an hour or two and then it's on with life.    However, based on regular listening to sports talk radio, reading stories of Little League dads who attack umpires, and soccer fans who kill referees and threaten the life of a player who screwed up on the field, I am beginning to wonder if these are the average sports fans anymore.     Rude, obnoxious, or belligerent fan behavior is described as "passion".     Players have objects thrown at them in the name of such passion.    There may have been a time in which fans like Gil Renard would be considered extreme, but these days he is scarcely ahead of the curve.    The Fan was made during such a time where such behavior was unthinkable.   

The Fan, which starts out as a movie about an unhinged fan, soon becomes laughable.    It seems to know about attitudes of pro players towards fans, but not as much about baseball itself.    An examination of a fan who bleeds his team's colors and a player on that team who could not care less about fan opinion would be an interesting movie.    The Fan is not that movie.    As The Fan opens, it is the dawn of a new San Francisco Giants baseball season.     Gil is thrilled at the offseason signing of the reigning league MVP Bobby Rayburn (Snipes) and calls into the local sports talk radio show predicting a World Series title.    Gil is a hunting knife salesman whose job is in jeopardy because he scares clients with his bizarre manner.    He is the type of guy who takes his son to the opening day game and leaves him there alone for hours while visiting a make-or-break client.   

The arrogant Rayburn soon is mired in an endless slump.    He is involved in a feud with a teammate (Del Toro) who wears the number 11 Rayburn wore on his former team and refuses to give it up.    Gil believes Rayburn not being allowed to wear his usual number is causing the slump and soon takes care of Del Toro by making him an offer he won't be able to refuse.    Gil's scary behavior causes his ex-wife to withhold visitation and he is soon fired from his job.    Looking for an ounce of self-respect and recognition, he turns his attentions to Rayburn, who suddenly can hit a baseball again.

Because DeNiro is DeNiro, he is able to handle himself despite having nearly no character to play by the final 30 minutes.    He becomes a movie psychopath with a deranged smile and an ability to slip in and out of anywhere undetected even though every cop in San Francisco is looking for him.    He is no longer a person with motives or feelings.    He is just a killer who needs to be disposed of in a sensational way.    There is no insight into him or his resentment of Rayburn.    He hints at looking for recognition and resentment of Rayburn's attitudes toward money, fame, and fans, but these are mentioned but not explained.   

Snipes plays the entitled Rayburn as someone we sympathize with when Gil begins terrorizing him.   He soon finds himself under pressure to hit a home run or else his kidnapped son dies.    The game itself in which Rayburn has to do this is handled so poorly and unrealistically that it derails any suspense.    How poorly?   And how unrealistically?  

*  The rain comes in the 8th inning with Rayburn flustered as the pitcher begins intentionally walking him.     He shouts in protest at the pitcher.    I'm not sure of the opposing team's strategy since there is no one on base and Rayburn represents the tying run.  

*  The rain itself comes down so heavy it looks like the actors are standing under shower heads.   It is definitely movie rain. 

*  When play resumes, Rayburn approaches the opposing pitcher on the mound with a bat in hand and threatens to use the bat on the pitcher's head if he is not pitched to.    And the umpires do not eject Rayburn immediately.   Uh huh.

*  The pitcher relents to Rayburn against his manager's orders and pitches to him.   And the manager does nothing, not even a visit to the mound.   Uh huh. 

*   The rain comes again in a deluge and the game is not called despite hurricane-like winds and precipitation.    Rayburn takes his time thinking outside the batter's box as the water pours down on everyone.    Uh huh.

*   I think at one point during another game, Rayburn is the next batter and emerges from the dugout to bat instead of taking his place in the on-deck circle.    This is cause for ejection if I'm up to snuff on my baseball rules.  

Why does it even have to rain anyway?    To disguise a plot twist that everyone saw coming?   Or just for atmosphere?   By then, The Fan has abandoned all logic and sense en route to its inevitable conclusion.    We hear Rayburn explain why he doesn't play for the fans but for himself.    After his run-in with Gil, can anyone blame him?