Only the 2nd most famous film of the 1980s to have numerous references to Walt Whitman.

Great movie! It has a perfect blend of sports, comedy, and romance. Something for everyone.

If I hadn't committed myself to rewatching movies I'd never reviewed, I probably would never have revisited Bull Durham. It's a baseball movie, first of all, and it stars Kevin Costner. That is normally enough for a pass. I don't even know if I actually dislike Costner as a performer, or if he just consistently selects projects I have no basic interest in. Be that as it may, it was on the list, and so here I am. Bull Durham is not the main character's name as I falsely remembered - can anyone explain the title? it's about the Durham Bulls, but how does that grammatically resolve in that title? - he's a sort of baseball gunslinger hired by a Minor League team to get the local pitcher into the Majors. The baseball story has a lot of gumball machine philosophy, but it's pithy and Costner and Tim Robbins are fun foils for one another. As it turns out, this is just a side-show for a romantic comedy between Costner's Crash and Susan Serandon's sexy baseball groupie (the movie basically prefigures Almost Famous, but with sports) and the unfolding theme is that experience trumps raw quality, though not everyone necessarily delves that deep. I'm not sure how well the movie juggles the two genres at times (it seems all over and then they have to tack on more romance stuff), but ultimately, though I found it perfectly watchable, it's just not the kind of material I'll ever have much passion for.