The Fan (1996)
7/10
Entertaining!
14 January 2010
The Fan has combined both baseball and a thriller together to make everyone happy. It is slow at the beginning but it gets interesting as the story develops more and more as we look at the life of a famous player and a knife salesman who will later become involved in a life risking dilemma. Robert De Niro teams up with director Tony Scott and Wesley Snipes to make one good thriller. Even though The Fan can't compare with the likes of Tony Scott's previous films, True Romance and Top Gun, it is a still a promising thriller with some pretty big flaws. It is not a masterpiece and nor will it ever be but will be remembered as a movie that tried but could not reach the finish line. The critics were very harsh on this film but that's what they are born to do, criticize on every single piece of work. Five point six is too low for a film like the fan, a six point two would have been more like it. The end is clichéd and ruins the whole point of the film. The movie is predictable yet entertains you a little bit to stop you from taking the disc out. If you are a thriller lover then this movie is no disappointment because it will entertain you. The violence is limited and that's is a good thing but language is high.

(MAY CONTAIN SOME SPOILERS!!!)Number one fan Gil Renard whose obsession is focused on a San Francisco Giants all-star outfielder Booby Rayburn. While the newly signed baseball star is having trouble getting his favorite uniform number from a competitive teammate Juan Primo, Gil is having career troubles at the knife company that his father founded, and people can bet that his proximity to high-quality stainless-steel blades will be a factor in the suspenseful plot. Gil confronts Primo in a sauna and explains to the ballplayer that he believes Rayburn's decline in play is directly the result of Primo's competitiveness, since Rayburn took over Primo's spot at center field, but did not let him use his lucky number of 11 on his jersey. When Primo brushes off the fan's concerns, Gil proceeds to murder the left fielder with one of his makeshift knives!

Wesley Snipes finally gives a exceptional performance and he plays his sport role, Bobby Rayburne, very well and he shows emotion along with many other good feelings. The Fan is not so great that you would rather watch this than Kill Bill because you are a complete retard (No Offense). Robert De Niro plays the die-hard baseball fan who will do anything to impress his favorite baseball player, Bobby Rayburne (Wesley Snipes, and which results in him turning into something sinister and evil. Benicio Del Toro is almost unrecognizable in this film but after catching his face a few times, I finally realized that Benicio Del Toro looks like crap in this film. Jack Black also makes a two-second appearance in this film as the radio station guy. He looks normal and fat, usual. I got this in a triple film-pack which contained Money Train and Unstoppable, so I brought it because it was a good deal. This film deserves a view at least once. It is enjoyable, entertaining, fun, clichéd and flawed but even though it is all that, you will have a good time. 7/10.
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