What a beautiful movie!

I saw this movie before reading any reviews, and I thought it was very funny. I was very surprised to see the overwhelmingly negative reviews this film received from critics.

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

Tony Scott's the fan is a wild ride with an off the hook turn from Robert De Niro. It's ranked and regarded as a pretty low notch on Scott's belt, but it's hard to compete with his best work. It's still a sleazy blast and pure Scott, his characters always let, lurid and delightfully pulpy. Sure it falls apart near the end, but until then it's nasty, delicious fun. De Niro plays Gil, a die hard baseball fan and devout follower of Bobby Rayburn (Wesley Snipes), star player for his favourite team. Gil wants Bobby to succeed so badly that he becomes violent, unstable and pretty bonkers. At first it's obnoxious and amusing, but soon he gets dodgy and dangerous and eventually just out of control. It's great fun seeing De Niro go bug nuts bit by bit, and he's always had a wild menace that he like to take down from the shelf and dust off for the occasional performance. Benicio Del Toro does one of his puzzling, indecipherable vocal riffs as a rival player, adding to the weird factor. Ellen Barkin is a sexy sass bomb as Jewal Stern, a mouthy talk show host who sniffs out the controversy in high style. John Leguizamo is always sterling, and classes his scenes up like a pro. Watch for speckled cameos from M.C. Gainey, Brad William Henke, Don S. Davis, Tuesday Knight, Wayne Duvall, Richard Rhiele, John Carrol Lynch, Michael P. Michael P Byrne and Chris Mulkey as well, all excellent. Not Scott's best for sure, but a nicely mean spirited little romp through the psycho stalker fields. Fun stuff.

I sometimes wonder if Tony Scott did not have actors such as Denzel Washington to elevate his films how quickly his filmography would be forgotten. No doubt that this director who honed his skills in the Ad World brought over a style of filmmaking that has been copied by others. The fast cuts with many shots lasting just a few seconds, the particular style of lighting, use of music which has all influenced directors like Michael Bay.However his greatest skill is to make a watchable film with something that does not even resemble a finished script. Here is a tale of a highly prized baseball player who hits a slump and a baseball fan whose life is in turmoil as he loses his job and contact with his son.De Niro plays the fan who increasingly becomes unhinged and decides to take it out on Snipe's baseball player when he admits he plays for himself and not the team.The film is slow to get going, the script is half baked and we know that De Niro has anger management issues and its only a matter of time that he will snap and Snipes will become a victim.But for the acting from De Niro, Snipes, Barkin and Leguizamo this film would be dud rather than just average.

From the opening scenes of 'The Fan', it's all too obvious that the late Tony Scott was a strange choice of director for a suspense thriller. Scott's trademark flashy visuals, breathless camera work and hyperactive editing are there from the outset as die-hard San Francisco Giants fan Gil (Robert De Niro), speeds across town in his van while engaging in a somewhat bizarre radio phone-in about the Giants' new $40 million star signing Bobby Rayburn (Wesley Snipes).Once things calm down a little, we learn that Gil is a hunting supplies salesman who's having a tough time meeting his targets and is under threat of losing his job. Gil is also divorced and struggling to manage access to his son.When opening day arrives, separate incidents mark a serious downturn in fortunes for both Gil and Bobby, with Gil eventually developing a disturbing obsession with the slugger, thus setting off a frightening chain of events.'The Fan' is remarkable for a suspense thriller in that it lacks any real suspense. Although Tony Scott wasn't helped by a threadbare and illogical script, the clunky camera-work and jumpy editing mar any feeling of involvement or tension for the viewer in many of the scenes, with the excessive use of close ups beginning to grate after a while. Also, the baseball scenes feel very unnatural and stagey. Most regrettable are the attempts to portray the characters' motivations to the audience, which are two dimensional at best, downright lazy at worst. As the movie jumps from one unlikely encounter and set of circumstances to another, all credibility quickly unravels.What rescues this movie from outright mediocrity are the excellent performances from a terrific cast, with De Niro and Snipes both being engaging despite their rather clichéd and poorly scripted roles. The supporting cast is top drawer, with John Leguizamo as Bobby's unscrupulous agent and Ellen Barkin's languid radio host being highlights, especially in their all too brief scenes together.Over and above the poor quality of the script, you're left with the impression that this is a movie with plenty of style but little in the way of substance. A different choice of director would have helped this movie be more than the mediocre pulp fare that it is, as although Scott was a fine director, creating tension and projecting believable characters was not his forte. Although 'The Fan' is fairly watchable in parts, by the time the hammy and frankly ludicrous final act is over, you're left with a feeling that it could all have been so much better.

Gil Renard (Robert De Niro) is a failing knife salesman, a SF Giants fanatic, a divorced father of a boy, and a very angry guy. Bobby Rayburn (Wesley Snipes) is a new sign to the ball club, and the hope for savior. Both men's lives go downhill.Director Tony Scott has made a movie filled with flash and sizzle. It doesn't accentuate as much as distract. When there is a master thespian like Robert De Niro, all the extra fireworks just take the focus away from the real show. And Wesley Snipes isn't likable enough. A less stereotypical selfish black athlete may help. His scenes with his agent Manny (John Leguizamo) are annoying and tiresome. This could have been a creepy character study like the iconic 'Taxi Driver'. But it never allows De Niro any peace and quiet to do his work properly.