The Fan (1996)

User Rating:

5.6/10   

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:

Fan | Baseball | Knife | Baseball Player | Obsession

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:

Robert De Niro took the Yankees bobblehead doll as a souvenir; the production company paid collector Anne Wells, who loaned it to the show, $400 for the doll.

Goofs:

Continuity: Bobby gives his son, Sean, a puppy early in the film. Less than six months later, the puppy is fully grown.

Quotes:

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

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Jackie Brown (1997)

Soundtrack:

MANO DE MONO

De Niro makes it all worthwhile (just)

A flawed movie, but worth seeing for De Niro's performance as Gil Renard, an increasingly crazed fan/stalker. Also, yet again, baseball shows itself as the sport most able to provide striking visual metaphors for the ups and downs of life (though, as a Brit, I've noted some of the specific criticisms aimed at the baseball sequences in this movie by IMDb commenters from the US).

Where the movie, via the genius of De Niro, certainly succeeds is in convincingly demonstrating how easily and quickly obsessive devotion can turn to obsessive hatred, when the object of that devotion fails to meet the assumptions of the extreme fan. Certainly, there's some of Max Cady, the Cape Fear psychotic, in his portrayal; but there's also a lot of Rupert Pupkin, the confused kidnapper and would-be comic from King of Comedy - both films, of course, directed by Martin Scorsese.

Where the film fails is in being too repetitive and, consequently, a bit too long; one or two of the scenes where Gil is trying to sell his knives are superfluous; and, when Gil is at the game with his son, why does the camera have to keep cutting to the woman in the crowd - once or twice would have been sufficient. Several of the scenes also seem derivative, especially those involving Dan Butler, as Garitty the sales manager, which echo Glengarry Glen Ross. A major unconvincing aspect is that surely a $40m signing, like Bobby Raybourn (Wesley Snipes), would be surrounded by a lot more razzmatazz than simply one not-too-effective agent (John Leguizamo).

But, on the whole, one to rent or watch on TV (as I've just done) if nothing more compelling is available.