THE FAN
A film review by Andrew Hicks
Copyright 1996 Andrew Hicks / Fatboy Productions
(1996) ** (out of four)
I'm sure this seemed like a good movie somewhere along the line. But then sh*t hit THE FAN, turning a surefire success into cliche-ridden thriller crap. Robert DeNiro has played some good crazies in his time, from TAXI DRIVER and the 1991 remake of CAPE FEAR to his star-stalking fan in THE KING OF COMEDY. Now he's the baseball player-stalking fan out to make sure Wesley Snipes gives credit where credit is due. This is all retread territory, from DeNiro as the stalker to Snipes as the baseball player. Or have we forgotten a lame 80's comedy called MAJOR LEAGUE?
Watch the commercials for THE FAN and you'll know where it's headed in thirty seconds. But it takes over an hour for the actual movie to go anywhere. No, we have to watch DeNiro DeGenerate from a knife salesman to an unemployed lunatic, and we have to watch Snipes suffer through a severe slump after being signed to a $40 million contract with the San Francisco Giants. There are more unnecessary expository scenes than you can count and we even have to sit through Aaron Neville's rendition of the national anthem on opening day. I wondered for a few minutes why they chose Neville before realizing DeNiro probably demanded they put someone with a bigger mole than him in the movie.
Meanwhile, the supporting players worm their way into the movie. John Leguizamo, el mexicano tokeno, plays Snipes' agent and best friend. Ellen Barkin plays the "ball-busting" radio reporter who serves no other purpose than to display her new Aniston haircut. She runs the call-in show that DeNiro frequently runs his mouth on.
You see, DeNiro is completely obsessed with the game and has a Shrine-O-Snipes in his house. So it's only natural that, after another player (Benicio Del Toro) gets on a winning streak that Snipes attributes to his wearing the number 11 on his uniform, DeNiro sneak into the steam room and stab Del Toro in the leg with one of his company's knives, as a free demonstration of their quality, of course. Up to that point, there's no action whatsoever in THE FAN.
And after that point, the movie still doesn't get any better. That's when Snipes starts hitting again but tells DeNiro it's because he stopped caring, the cardinal sin for DeNiro. Not only do you care about the game, you also thank the psychos who kill off your competition, something Snipes apparently never learned in the minors. Now he's got a crazed ex-pitcher on his hands, an ex-pitcher who knows the one thing in the world Snipes cares about is his son. So guess what DeNiro does to the son? Imagine a kid taking a nap and the answer will come to you.
There's not a single move in THE FAN that isn't apparent several scenes before it happens. The whole time I was waiting for the movie to catch up to me, but it never did. I was on third base by the time the movie was on first. Not only was it unoriginal and predictable but the cutting-edge tilted camera angles got on my nerves before the first reel was up. That stuff can benefit a movie aesthetically only if it's used sparingly. Film every scene that way and it becomes annoying.
Normally you can count on DeNiro and Snipes both to appear in high-quality movies but not even the best all-stars hit home runs all the time. With an average like theirs, though, you can forgive the occasional strike-out, which is exactly what THE FAN is.
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