Moustroll Good movie but grossly overrated

Crwthod A lot more amusing than I thought it would be.

BelSports This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Philippa All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

SnoopyStyle Henry 'Author' Wiggen (Michael Moriarty) is a pitcher and his best friend Bruce Pearson (Robert De Niro) is a catcher on the major league baseball team New York Mammoths. Bruce is told that he's terminally ill. Henry can be pretty hard on the slow-witted Bruce but he's protective of Bruce especially from Bruce's gold-digging girlfriend Katie. Henry takes lower pay to keep Bruce on the team. Manager Dutch Schnell (Vincent Gardenia) is not happy but forced to accept it. It's a baseball season of ups and downs.De Niro is still an unknown at this point. The on-screen friendship is fine. They would be better served with more screen time together. The baseball action isn't much. Vincent Gardenia is great although I would have liked some more compelling teammates.

classicsoncall Nominally a baseball movie, this is actually more of a human interest story focusing on the relationship of a couple of teammates who hang together through the thick and thin of catcher Bruce Pearson's (Robert DeNiro) bout with Hodgkin's disease. You never get a clear idea of why New York Mammoth's pitcher Henry Wiggen (Michael Moriarty) takes a shine to his buddy but their loyalty to each other is convincing. I'm not sure if a real life ball player could have pulled off the contract demand that Wiggen did by forcing the owner and manager to agree to his terms for keeping 'Bill' employed, but this was made over forty years ago when money hadn't yet become that big a deal.Now I'd never heard of Big League Tegwar before seeing this picture and I don't know if it was simply made up for the story, but it looks like it could be a lot of fun. With a little creativity you could almost convince a newcomer that the game was on the up and up as long as you didn't get too carried away. But getting too carried away is probably the whole point of it.For DeNiro, this was his last picture before really coming on as an actor with an appearance in "Mean Streets" as Johnny Boy in the same year. After that his career took off like a rocket and is still going as strong as could be. Michael Moriarty, well I never really cared that much for him, probably because I've seen him in too many roles like Hull Barret in Eastwood's "Pale Rider" where he's too much of a doormat. In this picture his character is a commendable sort to stand up for Bruce but his non-aggressive demeanor for some reason bothers me a bit.As for the baseball, there are a handful of scenes to give the picture it's flavor as a sports film, but if you're tuning in that's not the main reason to see it. It's the human drama that takes center stage here in a story that personifies the meaning of friendship and going the extra mile.

knucklebreather "Bang the Drum Slowly" is among the best baseball movies. For my money, it might be the very best. Its story is simple - Henry Wiggen, the intelligent and savvy ace pitcher of the New York Mammoths, learns that his best friend on the team, simpleminded, kindhearted catcher Bruce Pearson, has terminal cancer and a year to live. A baseball season to live.This is a story about friendship and about being a decent human being. It's about how, as Bruce laments, there's just no sense to his death. The movie is built around a baseball season, and it's certainly a baseball movie, but it's a rare sports movie where the human drama isn't clichéd and predictable but actually makes the film. The baseball elements are well-done, to be sure, the teammate's show a realistic mix of cockiness and genuine concern for a teammate, and the plot involving the manager's spirited investigation of Bruce's off-season activities, not yet knowing he was at a cancer hospital, is funny and realistic at the same time. However, the reason to watch this is the simple but powerful human drama - the baseball season can't help but take a back seat to that.Aside from the stellar story, this movie is memorable for the acting. Of course, Robert Deniro gives an excellent performance in a role that's quite different than what he'd become known for. But Deniro as the kindhearted, simpleminded Pearson really shows off his range. As overlooked as the film itself is Michael Moriarty's top-shelf performance as Wiggen. While Moriarty evidently has less range (he plays Wiggen much as he would play Ben Stone in Law & Order two decades later, right down to calling everyone "sir") Moriarty's intelligent, noble and soul-searching demeanor is naturally perfect for the role. And I can't forget to mention Vincent Gardenia as manager Dutch Schnell. Playing any other character, Gardenia's work here would have been absurd, but his zany acting is totally appropriate for a famous baseball manager, a line of work where flamboyant, over-the-top behavior is essentially a job requirement, regardless of what era of baseball you're talking about.While I don't know if we could ever definitively determine a "best" baseball movie, because a lot of it comes down to personal taste. But for me, "Bang the Drum Slowly" is everything I want in a baseball movie. I think any fan of the game owes it to themselves to check this film out if they have the chance.

fred-houpt Finally watched this film. First of all the story is a good one though the manner in which it is fleshed out is a bit too limp for my tastes. There are opportunities for more sparks and tension but they are avoided. Of course de Niro is at the beginning of a tremendous career and we get the glimpses of his genius. His portrayal of a dim witted country bumpkin is quite enjoyable and believable. His predilection for gobs and blobs of sticky chewing tobacco just make you cringe but the gag is used to color his character. I enjoyed the way in which their top pitcher, played by Michael Moriarity, takes pity on his dying buddy and does whatever he can to protect him from being isolated. While no one can explain de Niro's characters sudden self confidence and above average abilities, the audience knows that it is because he has been encouraged to feel better about himself and that is the gift of his protective pitcher friend. The socializing scenes of the players sitting down to play a knucklehead game of cards (with ad hoc rules) is funny but it wears thin after watching a few times. The coach reminds me of Zero Mostel but on a much reduced scale. Shame they didn't get Mostel to do the role as he would have added the extra manic energy that would have made his character truly hilarious.There was much more this film could have done but the entire movie seems to me shot in too soft shades with none of the serious tensions that surely erupt between hard driven major league players. Moriarity's character is just too sweet for the role and after a while I lost the ability to believe in him and frankly was put off by all the smiles and good boy looks. Give me a break. This is a film that needs to be remade with a much harder tone and edge to it. I can imagine Sean Penn playing the dying catcher. I can imagine someone like Damien Lewis as the pitcher, Ron Livingston as first base (both did so well in Band of Brothers). As a matter of fact, so many of those guys on that film would be excellent in a remake. Oh well, such are my dreams. Not a bad film but not a great one by any standards. I think that "A league of their own" is by far a much better film on any level. "Fields of dreams" is another and there are many finer baseball films out there.