Rating: 
Summary: Too Slow!
Review: Expected more from this movie - although DeNiro was good as usual.
Rating: 
Summary: This is the "Brian's Song" of baseball movies
Review: I first saw this movie some twenty years ago and certain of the images have stuck with me all that time. This is not a baseball movie in the conventional sense so if you're expecting to kick back and enjoy the game, forget it. This movie has the same relationship to baseball as does "The Natural". Baseball is the backdrop for two friends, one a pitcher destined for stardom the other a somewhat simple minded roster player, his catcher. Unfortunately for the catcher, played very, very well by a young DeNiro, fate has intervened in the form of Hodgkins disease. The grittiness, competitive nature, raw desire and humor necessary to make it through what he knows will be his last season should be a lesson to us all.I bet in twenty more years I'll still have the memory of Moriarty and DeNiro running across the outfield together with that incredible music in the background. It leaves a lump in my throat. What a fantastic image.
Rating: 
Summary: Half as good as the novel, but not bad.
Review: I've always thought that this movie version of Mark Harris's wonderful novel was overrated. Moriarty is excellent, DeNiro pretty good (though it's not even close to the stunning work he would shortly do for Coppola and Scorsese), but the movie completely missses the tone of the book.... it's a sports tearjerker, and the novel , written in a deliberately un-graceful and very funny style that evokes the atmosphere of the sporting world of the 1950's, goes beyond that. The movie doesn't. The movie never finds a storytelling equivalent to Henry Wiggen's "voice" from the novel. It's just another dying-from-a-terminal-illness story, this time in a baseball setting. Taken on those terms, however, it works pretty well, and if you haven't read the novels you'll probably like it more than I do, but the movie just doesn't do justice to the source...
Rating:
Summary: PERFECT TITLE FOR A GREAT FILM
Review: In the Mark Harris novel (which I suggest you read before watching the movie) Henry Wiggen, the narrator, often says to himself "Lay it on thin, boys." He fears that Bruce, the terminally ill catcher, may suspect false sentiment if his teammates treat him too well, as he has been the butt of their jokes in the past. Bang the drum "slowly" suggests only a modicum of fanfare, and that is exactly what makes this film great. Against the backdrop of Big League baseball, the viewer is given only small glimpses of DeNiro's character's pain. Too many films dealing with death as the major theme pour it on heavy. Who wants to sit and cry for an hour and a half, for God's sake? What's the point in that? It's as much what you DON'T see that gives the film its depth, and that is, in itself, a breath of rarefied cinematic air. Excellent performances abound here. The young DeNiro is nearly perfect as the slow - witted yet big - hearted country boy. Moriarty shines as Henry Wiggen, the big time pitcher, card hustler, insurance salesman, author and ultimately big brother to the doomed catcher. Vincent Gardenia is just plain hilarious as the manager of the fictional New York Mammoths, a team loaded with talent, yet fraught with eccentric players and inner turmoil. What begins as a secret (Bruce, the catcher's, illness) is ultimately leaked to the other members of the team, and in the end, he unknowingly pulls them together. Moriarty and DeNiro "lay it on thin," each giving subtle, yet dead on performances. Watching the friendship of the two characters grow is one of many things that makes Bang the Drum Slowly a special film. Your heart will not be torn out at every turn. On the contrary - there are more comic scenes than dramatic ones. But this mixture works amazingly well, and for that reason you'll remember this film, and the narrator's final words, for a long time. "He wasn't a bad fellow. No worse than most and probably better than some." Simple as that. "Lay it on thin."
Rating: 
Summary: Classic Film Finally out in DVD Version
Review: In the Mark Harris novel (which I suggest you read before watching the movie) Henry Wiggen, the narrator, often says to himself "Lay it on thin, boys." He fears that Bruce, the terminally ill catcher, may suspect false sentiment if his teammates treat him too well, as he has been the butt of their jokes in the past. Bang the drum "slowly" suggests only a modicum of fanfare, and that is exactly what makes this film great. Against the backdrop of Big League baseball, the viewer is given only small glimpses of DeNiro's character's pain. Too many films dealing with death as the major theme pour it on heavy. Who wants to sit and cry for an hour and a half, for God's sake? What's the point in that? It's as much what you DON'T see that gives the film its depth, and that is, in itself, a breath of rarefied cinematic air. Excellent performances abound here. The young DeNiro is nearly perfect as the slow - witted yet big - hearted country boy. Moriarty shines as Henry Wiggen, the big time pitcher, card hustler, insurance salesman, author and ultimately big brother to the doomed catcher. Vincent Gardenia is just plain hilarious as the manager of the fictional New York Mammoths, a team loaded with talent, yet fraught with eccentric players and inner turmoil. What begins as a secret (Bruce, the catcher's, illness) is ultimately leaked to the other members of the team, and in the end, he unknowingly pulls them together. Moriarty and DeNiro "lay it on thin," each giving subtle, yet dead on performances. Watching the friendship of the two characters grow is one of many things that makes Bang the Drum Slowly a special film. Your heart will not be torn out at every turn. On the contrary - there are more comic scenes than dramatic ones. But this mixture works amazingly well, and for that reason you'll remember this film, and the narrator's final words, for a long time. "He wasn't a bad fellow. No worse than most and probably better than some." Simple as that. "Lay it on thin."
Rating:
Summary: PERFECT TITLE FOR A GREAT FILM
Review: In the Mark Harris novel (which I suggest you read before watching the movie) Henry Wiggen, the narrator, often says to himself "Lay it on thin, boys." He fears that Bruce, the terminally ill catcher, may suspect false sentiment if his teammates treat him too well, as he has been the butt of their jokes in the past. Bang the drum "slowly" suggests only a modicum of fanfare, and that is exactly what makes this film great. Against the backdrop of Big League baseball, the viewer is given only small glimpses of DeNiro's character's pain. Too many films dealing with death as the major theme pour it on heavy. Who wants to sit and cry for an hour and a half, for God's sake? What's the point in that? It's as much what you DON'T see that gives the film its depth, and that is, in itself, a breath of rarefied cinematic air. Excellent performances abound here. The young DeNiro is nearly perfect as the slow - witted yet big - hearted country boy. Moriarty shines as Henry Wiggen, the big time pitcher, card hustler, insurance salesman, author and ultimately big brother to the doomed catcher. Vincent Gardenia is just plain hilarious as the manager of the fictional New York Mammoths, a team loaded with talent, yet fraught with eccentric players and inner turmoil. What begins as a secret (Bruce, the catcher's, illness) is ultimately leaked to the other members of the team, and in the end, he unknowingly pulls them together. Moriarty and DeNiro "lay it on thin," each giving subtle, yet dead on performances. Watching the friendship of the two characters grow is one of many things that makes Bang the Drum Slowly a special film. Your heart will not be torn out at every turn. On the contrary - there are more comic scenes than dramatic ones. But this mixture works amazingly well, and for that reason you'll remember this film, and the narrator's final words, for a long time. "He wasn't a bad fellow. No worse than most and probably better than some." Simple as that. "Lay it on thin."
Rating:
Summary: An early film in the career of Robert DeNiro
Review: This film about life behind-the-scenes in professional baseball is really quite good even though all baseball fans know the story and the team are fictitious. Here we all get to see the career of Robert DeNiro as it was just beginning to bloom. But what about the career of Michael Moriarty? What ever happened to him?
Rating:
Summary: Unforgettable Movie!
Review: This is the film that you will not forget.This is a story of two roommates attempting to get through one final season. Michael plays the role of a pitcher who is the roommate of Robert DeNiro who plays the role of the catcher.DeNiro is
diagnosed with Hodgkins disease. Michael as his roommate and
intimate friend helps DeNiro cope with Hodgkins as well as
make the season to the end. This is one of the more touching
films that I have watched.It would compare to "Brian's Song"
as far as being emotional.DeNiro,in this movie definitely showed
signs of great things to come for him.And,who could ever forget
the haunting song that accompanied the movie.A definite must see.
| 
