Batman (1989) Movie Review
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It's as if Hollywood has heard all my internal silent screaming, begging them to STOP already with the aliens, Superhero's, and general lack of thought. Give me something intelligent, and real-something that makes me feel like I didn't just light that $10 bill on fire and sit in a dark room for 90 minutes. Well, hello 'Moneyball'----you have given me hope.
THE GOOD: Let's get one thing straight, right up front here - I don't like baseball. I went to one professional game of the Colorado Rockies years ago---who they were playing has been long forgotten and probably wasn't even something I noticed at the time anyway--and the only thing I enjoyed about it was how cute one of the players was. Taking it even further, I don't understand the whole "sports fanatic" mentality of ANY sport. Women who lose their husbands to a giant screen TV for months on end, men who become absolutely ENRAGED when some guy in black and white stripes has the audacity to point down the field in what is CLEARLY the wrong direction.
The obscenely overpaid athletes who seem bent on self destructing right before our eyes. And don't get me started on the whole face and body paint thing. Or giant cheese hats. So, you can understand that I had my reservations about this movie, and quite frankly, 10 minutes into it I found myself thinking "Well, at least Brad Pitt is pretty, and will serve as a focal point for me to get through this". So knowing my total lack of interest in this sport, imagine my surprise when I found myself actually ENJOYING watching baseball. If you don't know the premise of the storyline, this is a semi-biographical story of Billy Beane (Brad Pitt doing the honors), General Manager of the Oakland A's and his effort to assemble a winning team with very little funding, based on a computer based analysis of statistics.
In the beginning of the film, we see Batman as a form of vigilante justice at work. Our first example is at the very beginning after two thieves rob an unsuspecting family. One of them believes in "the Bat" and claims that someone he knew, Johnny Gobbs, was forced off the roof of a building by a mysterious figure resembling a bat. The other one doesn't believe him and scoffs at the story. Then, Batman busts both of them on the roof of a building, kicking one in the groin and sending the other into a frightened shock.
THE BAD: The movie has a slow start, which is why I found myself early on worrying that Brad was going to have to carry the whole thing on the merits of his looks alone. Maybe the director was trying to establish the anguish Billy Beane was feeling after another in a long line of losses. He got the anguish part right at least. It does pick up quickly after that, so just hang in there. There is also a side story of Billy's ex-wife (Robin Wright) and daughter (Kerris Dorsey) that might have been nice to have developed just a little more-it's never really clear what went wrong, but whatever it was, she obviously ended up with all his money. And a dorky new husband.
At its core, the Sandlot is a coming-of-age story about Smalls growing up and coming out of his shell on the baseball field. There are other story elements like dealing with a giant dog who's stolen an important baseball and Smalls' first home run hit that add to the heartwarming, comical essence of the film. All of the directorial choices in the film as well as the writing help to craft an endlessly entertaining, sincere, lovable film.
THE UGLY: Apparently, it is fundamentally necessary to SPIT as a baseball player. No one knows exactly why, but the game just isn't worth playing if these men don't have a giant wad of something in their bottom lip. Can you imagine if all sports had this unwritten requirement? Sunflower shells all over the tennis courts, big wads of chew littering the swimming pool. It would be total chaos. And gross. Don't forget gross. So don't misunderstand me: I still don't like baseball and I will forever be grateful for a husband who DOESN'T park his butt on the couch to watch the playoffs-of ANYTHING. But whether you are a sports fan or not, this film will leave you feeling like you got your money's worth. It's a statistical certainty.
Article Source: Articlelogy.com
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