Bang the Drum Slowly (1973)
Michael Moriarty, Robert De Niro, Vincent Gardenia; d. John D. Hancock; B

Why, I asked, was Bang the Drum Slowly considered to be such a great movie? I watched it once and I was bored. I thought it was stupid, corny, manipulative, predictable, formulatic, dull... Oh did I mention stupid? Ironically, the story of how I finally came around to liking it is also stupid, predictable, and formulatic. After listening to my online friends (and drama teacher) rave on and on about the film, and seeing it mentioned on, of all shows, Inside the Actor's Studio, I thought that there must have been something I missed. Naturally, I also realized that I was holding my prejudices against sports and thus could not enjoy the film. As you all might have guessed, I, feeling guilty and stupid, decided to watch it again and lo and behold I liked it more. Now, I will try to devise a mathematical formula for this story so you won't have to hear it again.

Bang the Drum Slowly is a buddy film about baseball players Henry Wiggen (Michael Moriarty) and Bruce Pearson (Robert De Niro), who play for a fictional New York baseball team. Wiggen is the team's young, slick star pitcher. His friend, Bruce, though, isn't as slick. He's an underappriciated, no-name, not-too-smart, ill-dressed catcher from Georgia who seems not to know too much about what goes on around him. He's mistreated and underestimated by everyone, even Henry himself. That all changes when Bruce learns that he's "doomed," that is, he's been diagnosed with cancer and will probably die (Ok, will die; you can't even survive a cold in the movies). Henry, assessing his friendship with Bruce, attempts to make their friendship and Bruce's apparent last season on the team more lively. But, he tries to keep Bruce's illness underwraps, until he makes the mistake of telling another teammate. Eventually, that teammate tells his room mate and eventually the news spreads that Bruce is sick and dying. As expected, when faced with death, the entire team feels guilt over treating Bruce so poorly and, like Henry, tries to make his final season a lively one.

While suffering from many of the flaws that movies typically dealing with illness and friendship have, Bang the Drum Slowly is a very entertaining and touching film featuring great performances from both Moriarty and De Niro. It's interesting to hear that De Niro took his character so seriously that he defended the character to the film's costume designer, and that seriousness pays off well in this film. Had he not taken the role seriously the film would have been less effective, as the treatment of Bruce Pearson in this film is a bit sappy and manipulative. One of the biggest flaws in this film is the lack of side character development and the lack of development of many character relationships. However, the supporting cast does a good job with what little material they have to work with. As for others, some complain about baseball inaccuracies but let's face it, I'm not one to know that kind of stuff. The film has a good script but if put in the wrong hands it could have been an awful film. John D. Hancock does a good job directing this film and doesn't let it go astray. I would not give this a strong reccomendation, maybe for those who are baseball film buffs or Robert De Niro fans (like me).

© Vert A Go Go Reviews 2001