Bull Durham

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Bull Durham

R

Released Jun 15, 1988

1h 48m

Romance

Comedy

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

97%

Tomatometer

73 Reviews

82%

Popcornmeter

50,000+ Ratings

In Durham, N.C., the Bulls minor league baseball team has one asset no other can claim: a poetry-loving groupie named Annie Savoy (Susan Sarandon). As the team's season begins, Annie selects brash new recruit Ebby Calvin Laloosh (Tim Robbins), whom she christens "Nuke," to inspire with the religion of baseball. Nuke also receives guidance from veteran player Crash Davis (Kevin Costner), who settles Nuke's erratic pitching and teaches him to follow the catcher's lead.

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Critics Consensus

Kevin Costner is at his funniest and most charismatic in Bull Durham, a film that's as wise about relationships as it is about minor league baseball.

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Carrie Rickey

Philadelphia Inquirer

Screwball Annie and hardball Crash aren't playing the same game, which is Shelton's conceit as well as a possible screen-writing miscalculation.

Rated: 3/4

Mar 20, 2013

Full Review

Jay Boyar

Orlando Sentinel

Ron Shelton, who wrote and directed the film, displays a knowledge of and affection for the national pastime. You can see it in the knowing detail he brings to even the minor characters.

Mar 20, 2013

Full Review

Sheila Benson

Los Angeles Times

[Shelton is] uncanny at putting us inside his players' heads when they're on the mound or up at bat, running their private litanies of encouragement and subversion to psych themselves up.

Mar 11, 2013

Full Review

Dan Buffa

Ramble On With Buffa (Substack)

Crash was different, and that’s why he and the movie stand above most, if not all, baseball and sports films for me. Director Ron Shelton captured the minor league grind and added a bevy of edgy humor to the proceedings, starting with Costner’s aging pro.

Rated: A

Aug 13, 2024

Full Review

Rene Jordan

El Nuevo Herald (Miami)

Bull Durham is hit… I would even say a HOME RUN! [Full review in Spanish]

Jul 7, 2022

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Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

Is Bull Durham the greatest sports movie ever made? Hey, no argument from me.

Rated: 4/4

Aug 10, 2021

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mark g

I don't get it, never have. Saw it in theater, thought it was terrible. Have seen it a couple more times over the years, still didn't like it. Not really a baseball film, as Robbins has zero baseball skills. More closely resembles a Cinemax after dark movie as the sex scenes are pretty graphic, for some bizarre reason. I like all the actors in this film, so it's not personal. I just hate this film.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

09/12/24

Full Review

Audience Member

The story of how an aging minor-league ball player steals the show as his stars burning out and helps a cocky pitcher hone his craft, whilst a team groupie makes her rounds and hints at her crush on the aging ball player. The lesson I suppose is something about sloppy seconds. Assholes get ahead, good hearts get left behind, and poetry-loving minor league groupies get left in bed after getting it from behind.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

08/30/24

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Jay H

"I'm the player to be named later."

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

05/15/24

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Audience Member

Not sure how this is rated so high. This movie was boring and didn’t go anywhere.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

01/20/24

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Jack L

this movie is more bull than it is durham

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

12/22/23

Full Review

Joel H

I'm not big into watching baseball, but Bull Durham is talked about so often when sports movies are being discussed, that I decided to give it a shot. And you know what? I enjoyed the baseball scenes. In fact, almost any time the players were on the field, I was entertained. Unfortunately, I didn't really care for the story off the field. Susan Sarandon, Kevin Costner, and Tim Robbins all did a fine job acting, I just didn't like their characters or the choices they made. It's also much more tawdry and vulgar than it needed to be. It could have been a pretty great romantic comedy, if not for that.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

11/03/23

Full Review

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Ron Shelton

Director

Kevin Costner

Crash Davis

Susan Sarandon

Annie Savoy

Tim Robbins

Ebby Calvin 'Nuke' LaLoosh

Trey Wilson

Joe Riggins

Robert Wuhl

Larry Hockett

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Bull Durham: Official Clip - The No-No Word

1:24

Bull Durham: Official Clip - Annie Seduces Nuke

2:54

Bull Durham: Official Clip - On-the-Mound Convention

1:56

Bull Durham: Official Clip - Winning's Better Than Losing

1:53

Bull Durham: Official Clip - What Crash Believes

2:25

Bull Durham: Official Clip - Getting Woolly

2:55

Bull Durham: Official Clip - I Want You

2:42

Bull Durham: Official Clip - Kitchen Love

1:15

Bull Durham: Official Clip - Strikeouts are Fascist

1:27

Bull Durham: Official Clip - Get the Broad Out of Your Head

3:27

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Synopsis

In Durham, N.C., the Bulls minor league baseball team has one asset no other can claim: a poetry-loving groupie named Annie Savoy (Susan Sarandon). As the team's season begins, Annie selects brash new recruit Ebby Calvin Laloosh (Tim Robbins), whom she christens "Nuke," to inspire with the religion of baseball. Nuke also receives guidance from veteran player Crash Davis (Kevin Costner), who settles Nuke's erratic pitching and teaches him to follow the catcher's lead.

Director: Ron Shelton
Producer: Thom Mount, Mark Burg
Screenwriter: Ron Shelton
Distributor: Orion Pictures
Production Co: The Mount Company
Rating: R
Genre: Romance, Comedy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jun 15, 1988, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Sep 2, 2014
Box Office (Gross USA): $49.9M
Runtime: 1h 48m
Sound Mix: Surround

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