Le Fan

Gil Renard is an unemployed knife salesman who has one burning ambition in life -- to be exposed as baseball's biggest fan, or, more accurately, as hitting sensation Bobby Rayburn's biggest fan. He will go to any length to protect his hero from the media and all other ramifications that stem from being paid an excessive $40,000,000 a year to play with the Giants. And this dedication to perfection, as his ex-boss puts it, is what leads to his partial schizophrenia and almost complete absorption into the world of an over-hyped celebrity. But when Renard realizes that his efforts and 'kindnesses' are not appreciated by his #1 idol, he turns on his role-model and viciously hunts him and his family down to the film's final climax.

7/10

Sports and Robert DeNiro together. I was in heaven...until I saw the movie It seemed like a great idea, but it just didn't quite work. A bit of a combination of an ordinary, if not over-necessarily creepy storyline, and an ordinary script. The movie revolves around Robert DeNiro's character, Gil, an over obsessed sports fan who decides he wants to play an active role in the career of Bobby (Wesley Snipes), in a performance that will be mentioned in the same sentence as "Passenger 57". Gil cracks when problems with his family and job explode, causing him to focus all his energies in Bobby. How far will Gil go to get what he wants? See it to find out.

Pretty disappointed with this movie, although it features one of my favourite scenes ever when Gil and Bobby have a little game of baseball near the end.

While I agree with some of the previous comments about the lack of attention to detail and the confusing cinematography, I really did enjoy this movie. The story itself is not particularly original and the ending is weak -- but I thought the build-up of Gil's (De Niro) character to be quite effective. Although Gil was what one would typically label a loser, I couldn't help but feel for the guy. Many movies about psychos/stalkers fail to give you any insight into why he's doing all these bad things -- all you know is that he's not a nice guy. This movie did a great job of portraying how Gil's volatile personality, his obsession with the baseball and with Bobby (Snipes) in particular, and his loss of everything else that mattered to him, ultimately led him to do what he did.

A flawed movie, but worth seeing for De Niro's performance as Gil Renard, an increasingly crazed fan/stalker. Also, yet again, baseball shows itself as the sport most able to provide striking visual metaphors for the ups and downs of life (though, as a Brit, I've noted some of the specific criticisms aimed at the baseball sequences in this movie by IMDb commenters from the US).

Where the movie, via the genius of De Niro, certainly succeeds is in convincingly demonstrating how easily and quickly obsessive devotion can turn to obsessive hatred, when the object of that devotion fails to meet the assumptions of the extreme fan. Certainly, there's some of Max Cady, the Cape Fear psychotic, in his portrayal; but there's also a lot of Rupert Pupkin, the confused kidnapper and would-be comic from King of Comedy - both films, of course, directed by Martin Scorsese.

Where the film fails is in being too repetitive and, consequently, a bit too long; one or two of the scenes where Gil is trying to sell his knives are superfluous; and, when Gil is at the game with his son, why does the camera have to keep cutting to the woman in the crowd - once or twice would have been sufficient. Several of the scenes also seem derivative, especially those involving Dan Butler, as Garitty the sales manager, which echo Glengarry Glen Ross. A major unconvincing aspect is that surely a $40m signing, like Bobby Raybourn (Wesley Snipes), would be surrounded by a lot more razzmatazz than simply one not-too-effective agent (John Leguizamo).

But, on the whole, one to rent or watch on TV (as I've just done) if nothing more compelling is available.

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.