Baseball is a game full of tradition and majesty, giving off a vibe of classic Americana as few other phenomena (not just sports) can do. It's the sort of game that brings out the spiritual and the poetic sorts, which is exactly why Annie Savoy is drawn to it. It's also, for many people, a job. There's a reason why so many kids grow up with a dream of playing pro baseball. You mean I not only get to play baseball all day but get paid for it? Sign me up! But the game is full of dreaming kids who couldn't make it for whatever reason, and baseball teams don't see players as charity cases but investments. And if you…

Baseball is a game full of tradition and majesty, giving off a vibe of classic Americana as few other phenomena (not just sports) can do. It's the sort of game that brings out the spiritual and the poetic sorts, which is exactly why Annie Savoy is drawn to it. It's also, for many people, a job. There's a reason why so many kids grow up with a dream of playing pro baseball. You mean I not only get to play baseball all day but get paid for it? Sign me up! But the game is full of dreaming kids who couldn't make it for whatever reason, and baseball teams don't see players as charity cases but investments. And if you…

Bull Durham is one of the few films to successfully utilize the sport genre to make keen observations about life and love. This is mostly through Susan Sarandon's Annie, who treats the sport as an opportunity to play sexual caretaker to young ballplayers. She frames her life view around the sport (following "The Church of Baseball"), but finds that challenged by the hunky, no bullshit Crash. The performances are completely in sync, Sarandon playful and saucy and Costner electric and forceful (and shocking not robotic). These two characters make sense together from the first frame they are onscreen together. The dynamic between these two characters is what makes the film work, and their natural chemistry is shockingly erotic for a…