On Demand picks

July 15, 2011

BULL DURHAM **** (Comcast Movies: All Movies) A romantic comedy that also happens to be the smartest, funniest, raunchiest, most flat-out wonderful movie ever made about baseball. Grizzled veteran Kevin Costner and flaky rookie Tim Robbins both chase the Class A town’s high priestess of baseball, Susan Sarandon. They’re all inspired eccentrics, and writer-director Ron Shelton, who spent five years in the minors, knows what to love about baseball and what to make fun of. (R; runs through Dec. 31)

ROCKY *** (Comcast Movies: All Movies) The real-life underdog story here is that of Sylvester Stallone, standing his ground until he could get his boxer movie made his way, starring him. It lends substance and subtext to the otherwise corny old story of the determined underclass warrior slugging his way to fame, riches, and dignity. You may think it won’t get to you, but it will. (PG; runs through Dec. 31)

THE FAN ** (Starz on Comcast) Absorbing detailing from Robert De Niro, as an obsessive baseball fan whose world crumbles into psychosis, and from Wesley Snipes, who finds sensitivity beneath his megastar’s cockiness. But Tony Scott’s thriller simply never works on the visceral level. It’s more crawly than creepy. (R; runs through March 23)

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