Bang The Drum Slowly poster & wallpaper

Ann Wedgeworth, Barbara Babcock, Danny Aiello

The story of a New York pro baseball team and two of its players. Henry Wiggen is the star pitcher and Bruce Pearson is the normal, everyday catcher who is far from the star player on the team and fri...( read more  read more... )end to all of his teammates. During the off-season, Bruce learns that he is terminally ill, and Henry, his only true friend, is determined to be the one person there for him during his last season with the club. Throughout the course of the season, Henry and his teammates attempt to deal with Bruce's impending illness, all the while attempting to make his last year a memorable one.

Flixster Users

61% liked it

2,749 ratings

Critics

91% liked it

22 critics

PG, 1 hr. 37 min.

Directed by: John D. Hancock

Release Date: August 26, 1973

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DVD Release Date: March 4, 2003

Stats: 124 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (124)

  • FangsFirst
    October 15, 2007
    FangsFirst
    It's nice to sometimes have an intimate movie with no blustering madness, no crazy effects, no huge names (for the time, at least!) and no bombast at all. No pretensions or maddeningly complex and luxurious craft, but no signs of amateur work either.

    Michael Moriarty (Larry Cohe...( read more)n regular, as I know him) is Henry "Author" Wiggen, a pitcher for the New York Mammoths, and Robert De Niro is Bruce Pearson, a catcher. We begin the film by seeing the two of them walk out doors labelled "Mayo Clinic," and are soon informed that Pearson is dying. Wiggen uses the clout of his talent and charm to convince the team to take him on with the stipulation that no trades or losses can occur to either of them without the same happening to the other, thus guaranteeing Pearson a spot in the club as well. He makes it a point not to inform anyone as to why he is so insistent on Pearson's presencem and spends a lot of the movie defending Pearson and his choice to include him.

    The team rags on Pearson because he's not the sharpest tool in the shed, as he himself will admit. He's not great at putting things together, mentally speaking, and is often unable to keep up with his fellow players at mental exercises. Wiggen is not a fan of this approach, especially knowing how little time he has left. Vincent Gardenia (known to me as Mr. Mushnik) is Dutch Schnell, who takes it upon himself, for the good of the club, to discover why it is that Wiggen sticks so close to Pearson, and what it is they spent the summer doing. Wiggen gets more and more creative in explaining away how they spent the time (including a fishing trip to a lake with ice nine feet thick and a hunting trip that they changed their mind about upon reaching it) with Pearson doing his best to keep up with the wild lies and exaggerations.

    It's just a movie, really, about Wiggen and his friendship with and loyalty to Pearson, why he has it and what it means to him, and almost more importantly, what it means to Pearson.

    I've noted Moriarty recently as being a total nutjob as a human being (mostly thanks to his insane and near-incomprehensible interpretation of Larry Cohen's Masters of Horror episode Pick Me Up), but he's a fine actor, especially here. De Niro, unfortunately, continues to show that there is one thing that he simply cannot get around: he is from New York. Pearson is from Georgia, and sometimes has an accent, but De Niro is just unavoidably rotten at them. While he's good enough that often you can ignore the inappropriate (and occasionally even anachronistic) accent for his characters, it's by no means subtle. The accent comes and goes, and isn't very strong to start with. But, all the same, he's excellent at portraying the timid, naïve and earnest Pearson, imbuing him with a palpable sense of desire to fit in, belong and be accepted. This especially comes trhough in the games of "TEGWAR"--a card game with no real rules, which some might feel is reminiscent of Calvinball formed as a cardgame--which he desperately tries to understand at first and leaving him mocked mercilessly for his inability to do so, then becomes quite good at it once he grasps the concept. His only stupidity, as Wiggen tells him, is that he was dumb enough to believe it when someone called him stupid.

    An interesting relationship and an amusing movie and all, with nothing standing out in the ways first mentioned, though nothing really standing out in quality either. But, it doesn't seem like it needs that. It's, as I said, an intimate film, and it does just fine at that.
  • SageSlowdive
    October 10, 2009
    SageSlowdive
    DeNiro is wonderful.
  • beachguy150
    September 5, 2009
    beachguy150
    The best baseball movie ever.
  • Soundsofmadness
    March 28, 2009
    Soundsofmadness
    No thankyou - Not interested
  • michaelcorleone
    March 13, 2009
    michaelcorleone
    A sweet, compassionate picture that ultimately comes out mediocre. Failing to find a nice balance between comedy and tragedy, the movie meanders along without leaving a lasting impression. That being said, it's fairly entertaining and Robert De Niro is outstanding.
  • reruntext
    February 26, 2009
    reruntext
    Pretty disappointing film. The baseball talk is great and some of the most real and intelligent that I've seen in a sports movie, but the story plods along and is trying. It has some nice moments, such as when a dying catcher's teammates find out he has a lethal disease midway ...( read more)through the season and befriend him for the first time, and DeNiro is good in this early role, but mostly forgettable.
  • horrormoviefan
    February 7, 2009
    horrormoviefan
    Early Robert De Niro film. Good story about friendship and humanity
  • scrambledegg7
    November 9, 2008
    scrambledegg7
    This is not the movie it thinks it is. While it's supposed to about de Niro's character, the star of the film is very clearly Michael Moriarty and his character, scheming and working to make things go smoothly for his friend. It also isn't quite as touching as it thinks it is. It...( read more)'s too scattered and confused to tell the intimate story it's attempting. It's not a BAD movie, it just overreached.
  • caesarthegame
    October 25, 2008
    caesarthegame
    Subtle everyday movie about a friends that would do anything to help his dying live out the last of his days in happiness. De Niro's performance as am obliviously blissful dying man is someting of pure genius. This movie thrives on the performance of each supporting character. Th...( read more)e movie has a very natural tone that allows a person to feel like they're watching a documentary.
  • hypathio7
    October 23, 2008
    hypathio7
    nominated for best picture by NBR

View All Bang The Drum Slowly Reviews

Critic Reviews

October 23, 2004
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

Never before has a movie considered the game from the inside out. full review

View more Bang The Drum Slowly reviews at RottenTomatoes.com

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