A MAJOR LEAGUE LOVE STORY IN A MINOR LEAGUE TOWN.
Veteran catcher ”Crash” Davies (Kevin Costner) arrives in Durham, North Carolina to teach a pitcher (Tim Robbins), who’s young but very promising, how to play better.
Before embarking on a movie career, Ron Shelton had a background as a minor league baseball player. All that experience shows in the script for his feature film debut, a comedy with sharp dialogue, sexy rapport between Costner and Susan Sarandon (who’s terrific as a groupie who takes her own role in ”educating” young players very seriously), and a great love for the game and its minor-league eccentrics.
Costner and Robbins are perfectly cast, bouncing off of each other in amusing ways.
1988-U.S. 108 min. Color. Written and directed by Ron Shelton. Cast: Kevin Costner (Lawrence ”Crash” Davis), Susan Sarandon (Annie Savoy), Tim Robbins (Ebby Calvin ”Nuke” Laloosh), Trey Wilson, Robert Wuhl, William O’Leary.
Trivia: Anthony Michael Hall was considered for the part of ”Nuke”.
Quote: “I believe in the Church of Baseball. I’ve tried all the major religions, and most of the minor ones. I’ve worshipped Buddha, Allah, Brahma, Vishnu, Siva, trees, mushrooms, and Isadora Duncan. I know things. For instance, there are 108 beads in a Catholic rosary and there are 108 stitches in a baseball. When I learned that, I gave Jesus a chance. But it just didn’t work out between us. The Lord laid too much guilt on me.” (Sarandon)
Last word: “I met with [Costner], and he liked the script, and he said he wanted to do it. And I said, you’ve got it. The part is yours. And he says, but first I have to try out for you. And I said, you’ve already got the part. And he insisted that we go out to Sepulveda Boulevard in L.A., where there’s a batting cage for a quarter and miniature golf courses and video arcades. And we went out there, and we played catch in the parking lot. And then we started putting quarters in the machine. And he hit line drives right-handed, and then he hit line drives left-handed. And I went to a payphone – ’cause this was before there were alternatives – and called the studio and said, hire this guy. He’s unbelievable.” (Shelton, NPR)
