The Fan

An all star baseball player becomes the unhealthy focus of a down on his luck salesman.

• Director:Tony Scott
• Genre:Drama / Sport / Thriller
• Runtime:117 minutes

Cast

Robert De Niro : Gil Renard
Wesley Snipes : Bobby Rayburn
Ellen Barkin : Jewel Stern
John Leguizamo : Manny
Benicio Del Toro: Juan Primo

Gil Renard, a struggling knife salesman, is a temperamental divorcé who has been neglecting his responsibilities – namely his son, whom Gil awkwardly attempts to parent, and his job, which he is on the verge of losing due to poor sales. Between balancing the two, Gil displays a fervent loyalty to his favorite sport, baseball, and his favorite team, the San Francisco Giants. Gil has been following the career of the Giants’ newest player, Bobby Rayburn (Snipes), since day one. Overjoyed that his favorite player has partnered with his favorite team, Gil begins to take an even greater risk with his job by attending several games during work hours. In an attempt to repair his destitute relationship with his son, Gil forces Richie to skip school in order to watch Game One with his father.

To Gil’s excitement, the extensively hyped Rayburn quickly begins to deliver, and the fans respectfully display their appreciation. However, after Rayburn suffers a chest injury, his performance begins to decline, and the fans likewise criticize his inability to live up to their expectations. The frustrated Gil, who has just lost his job, begins to aggressively show his loyalty and support to his favorite player. He also knifes his former boss Garrity’s car. Instead of enjoying the time spent watching the Giants’ games, Gil engages in altercations with other fans, often to the point of overzealousness.

Gil’s ex-wife, Ellen, is disgusted by her former husband’s irresponsibility and works to stop him from seeing their son (Richie Renard),[1] who gradually begins to fear his father. Ellen’s attempts succeed, and Gil is issued a restraining order against his son. With his job and son lost, Gil delves deeper into a dark, aggressive disposition from which he will not escape. The fanatic Gil Renard once again turns to his love for baseball to solve his problems, and decides that a teammate of Rayburn’s, Juan Primo (Benicio del Toro), is to blame for his favorite player’s slump. Gil confronts Primo in a sauna and explains to the ballplayer that he believes Rayburn’s decline in play is directly the result of Primo’s competitiveness, since Rayburn took over Primo’s spot at center field, but did not let him use his lucky number of 11 on his jersey. When Primo brushes off the fan’s concerns, Gil proceeds to murder the left fielder with one of his makeshift knives. Read more

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