[.ca] The Fan (Widescreen/Full Screen) (ISBN 0800141822)

From Amazon.com:
Lurid thrillers don't get much more shameless than this movie, in which Robert De Niro plays a pathological baseball fan whose obsession is focused on a San Francisco Giants all-star outfielder (Wesley Snipes). While the newly signed baseball star is having trouble getting his favorite uniform number from a competitive teammate (Benicio Del Toro), De Niro is having career troubles at the knife company his father founded, and you can bet that his proximity to high-quality stainless-steel blades will be a factor in the suspenseful plot. Recycling parts of his maniacal roles in Taxi Driver, The King of Comedy, and Cape Fear, De Niro takes his idolatry to violent extremes, eliminating any obstacle to Snipes's stardom until the baseball hero is forced to confront his most terrifying devotee. Directed with brutal excess and souped-up style by Tony Scott (Top Gun, Crimson Tide), this manipulative nail-biter pulls all the right strings in predictable fashion, but it does have moments that are effectively intense. --Jeff Shannon

better than what you people say:
ok now people are always telling me that the fan is poop. pish posh it is a pretty good movie. the concept of the movie is good.. really good.. and de niro pulls it off.. really good. i mean of course snipes performance is nothing to get orgasmic about, but look past that, look at the story. and then think, could there really be people out there that have no life and are like him. i mean it's just such a neat story, and i think people look past that. in my opinion it is a pretty good movie that should be givin a chance. like some people say they like jeepers creepers... now that is a piece of poo poo... but this movie is a lot better than what people say. give it a chance and just look at the story.. and i bet u might like it

Where to begin:
I truthfully for some reason liked this movie when it came out years ago. I recently rented it again and thought, what was I thinking? The story is incredibly unbelievable (no way the murder of Primo would have gone without being solved for more than a few hours) and the script is just poorly written. I found myself getting confused with what was going on do to random jumps from one thing to another. There were many things that could have been left out or shown more of to make the story flow better. The acting was pretty good (though not the best work from anyone) for what was written. Now, when I first saw this movie I liked the soundtrack to it. Watching it again, I realize that the Nine Inch Nails song Closer, which I am a fan of all versions, was used so often it was ridiculous. It seemed like they were trying to go for Darth Vader like theme from Star Wars but failed miserably. All around, it wasn't horrible but its not in my top hundred. DeNiro has played this character way too many times and because of that it was slightly boring. Give it a try if you've seen everything else more than once. I wouldn't pay for it though if I were you.

The Fan ...Fans Out!:
Robert DiNiro completes a quintent of bad guy/psycho roles for the 1990's (AWAKENINGS, THIS BOY'S LIFE, CAPE FEAR,JACKIE BROWN) with THE FAN. With a resurgence of Baseball movies beginning in the late 1980's, this has got to be one of the worst of the bunch and the worst of the five DiNiro pictures. The pairing of DiNiro (who literally phones in his performance here)and Wesley Snipes (Is actually convincing as a baseball player. Remmeber his Willie Mays Hays in MAJOR LEAGUE?)in what could have been an interesting thriller turns into another predictable slasher-type film. DiNiro (Gil Renard) becomes an obsessed fan to Wesley Snipes superstar Baseball Player(Bobby Rayburn). There is some social commentary about modern sports and the responsibility of overpaid athletes but all commentary is drowned out by a weak script and weak direction. Also, there is a scene that most baseball purists have been complaining about in this film. This is the sequence where the umpires let a baseball game keep going and it is pouring rain. Director Tony Scott in his own directorial style shows the sequence in slow-motion with players slipping and sliding, with water and mud flying all over the place, all for dramatic purposes and creative license. Overall, a weak sports film, a weak thriller, and wasted talent makes THE FAN a very forgettable film.

TAKE ME OUT OF THE BALL GAME:
If you want someone to play a psycho, who else but the immensely talented Robert DeNiro? In "The Fan," based on Peter Abraham's novel, De Niro plays Gil, a washed up knife salesman who is obsessed with baseball. He's divorced from his wife, but has been able to maintain a relationship with his young, impressionable son. However, as Gil becomes more psychotic, his ex-wife realizes the potential danger so she puts out a restraining order. Meanwhile, Wesley Snipes' Bobby Rayburn recently purchased by the Giants for a cool forty million wants his #11 back, which has been given to Benito Del Torio's Juan Primo. And then the slump hits Snipes. DeNiro displays his loyalty by trying to get Primo to surrender the number and when he refuses, well it's....you can imagine. Onward then, DeNiro finds a wonderful opportunity to get into Snipes life by rescuing his son, Sean, who is drowning. He and Snipes almost bond, until Snipes confesses that he just doesn't care anymore, baseball is just a game. Snap goes what little is left of DeNiro's sanity and we face a showdown in a rain-drenched night game. Maybe overwrought, but Director Tony Scott handles everything so well, he elevates his film above it's derivative plot. Some of the baseball scenes are quite beautiful; Ellen Barkin and Patti D'arbinville shimmer in great supporting roles; John Lequizamo as Snipes' manager is good, and Charles Hallahan (so good in the remake of "The Thing") has a brief, but effective cameo as Coop, Gil's childhood buddy. Hans Zimmer's score is hauntingly beautiful and there are nice effects from the many Rolling Stones tunes that fill the picture. San Francisco looks beautiful, and the whole effect is quite effective. An underrated thriller, highly recommended.

Promising, But Ultimately Disappointing:
Despite some style, rythm and a couple of intriguing ideas, this Tony Scott`s movie soon falls into most of the cliches that trap a typical Hollywood blockbuster. Wesley Snipes plays a baseball star that ends up being the object of devotion and obsession of a lonely, convulted man (Robert DeNiro). The picture builds a growing tension, yet the second part lives on the strenght of chases, kidnappings and tiresome predictability. Nine Inch Nails are a fine addition to the soundtrack, helping the development of the paranoid plot, but the movie is still too flawed and unsurprising to truly engage. Not too good not too bad. Watchable.