Good Morning Vietnam was the film that launched Robin Williams into the stratosphere, proving that his lightning-in-a-bottle humor could be effectively mixed into an affecting and moving motion picture. Director Barry Levinson got a signature performance out of Williams, who earned his first Oscar nomination for the role. It’s no surprise what my favorite scene is. It’s iconic: one of the signature scenes of Williams filmography: Adrian’s first broadcast to the troops (minus the musical intervals).
With Kevin Costner a part of the Jack Ryan reboot that opens on Friday, I thought we’d look back to one of his first break-out movies, Bull Durham. I love baseball. I grew up on a steady diet of “baseball matters and little else does”, but I have to admit I’d rather watch college or high school ball than the pros these days. All the cheating smeared the history of the game and that was, to me, a major part of its charm and appeal. I have actually gone to more minor league games over the last ten years than major. Minor league baseball is kind of hilarious. The players are anxiety-ridden messes, the quality of the game varies wildly from pitch-to-pitch and literally anything can happen. That’s what makes this scene so good. Dumber things than this have happened in minor league ball, but it’s a hysterical example of how to build the comedy in a scene slowly. I think of it every time I see a catcher trot out to talk to a pitcher.
Killing Time 