The Fan (1996)

An all star baseball player becomes the unhealthy focus of a down on his luck salesman.

Director:

Tony Scott

Writers:

Peter Abrahams (book), Phoef Sutton (screenplay)

Stars:

Robert De Niro, Wesley Snipes, Ellen Barkin

1 win & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Robert De Niro	...	Gil Renard
Wesley Snipes	...	Bobby Rayburn
Ellen Barkin	...	Jewel Stern
John Leguizamo	...	Manny
Benicio Del Toro	...	Juan Primo
Patti D'Arbanville	...	Ellen Renard (as Patti D'Arbanville-Quinn)
Chris Mulkey	...	Tim
Andrew J. Ferchland	...	Richie Renard
Brandon Hammond	...	Sean Rayburn
Charles Hallahan	...	Coop
Dan Butler	...	Garrity
Kurt Fuller	...	Bernie
Michael Jace	...	Scalper
Frank Medrano	...	Leon, the Bartender
Don S. Davis	...	Stook

Storyline

Three-times MVP baseball player Bobby Rayburn joins the San Francisco Giants, and obsessive fan, whose profession is selling hunting knives, Gil Renard is excited over that. But Rayburn plays the worst season of his career and Renard tries to do everything to help him, but goes too far.

---

Plot Keywords:

Baseball | Fan | Salesman | Knife | Obsession | 

---

Taglines:

Fear strikes.

---

Genres:

Drama | Sport | Thriller

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong language throughout and some intense violence

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

16 August 1996 (USA)

Also Known As:

Fanatik

Filming Locations:

Indoor Pool, Biltmore Hotel - 506 S. Grand Avenue, Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$55,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

JPY 320,462,900 (Japan) (15 November 1996)

Gross:

JPY 488,949,200 (Japan) (29 November 1996)

Company Credits

Production Co:

TriStar Pictures, Mandalay Entertainment, Scott Free Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

116 min

Sound Mix:

SDDS (8 channels) Dolby Digital

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Al Pacino was considered for the role of Gil Renard.

---

Goofs

The San Francisco hat that Gil/Curly tries on (and ultimately keeps) whilst playing pool with Bobby Rayburn, is different to the hat worn in the following and final scenes.

---

Quotes

[first lines]
Gil Renard: [voiceover] Excited and anxious I await my dream / To escape, applaud, and embrace my team.

---

Connections

References Doctor Dolittle (1967)
Manny refers to the movie by name in the scene with the dog.

---

Soundtracks

"FOREVER BALLIN'"
Written by Johnny J (as Johnny Jackson) & Tyruss Himes
Produced by Johnny J (as Johnny "J")
Performed by Big Syke
Published by TSP Music, Inc./Black-Hispanic Music/BMG Songs, Inc./Imperial Loco Entertainment

User Reviews

Not a perfect film, but I enjoyed it

While I agree with some of the previous comments about the lack of attention to detail and the confusing cinematography, I really did enjoy this movie. The story itself is not particularly original and the ending is weak -- but I thought the build-up of Gil's (De Niro) character to be quite effective. Although Gil was what one would typically label a loser, I couldn't help but feel for the guy. Many movies about psychos/stalkers fail to give you any insight into why he's doing all these bad things -- all you know is that he's not a nice guy. This movie did a great job of portraying how Gil's volatile personality, his obsession with the baseball and with Bobby (Snipes) in particular, and his loss of everything else that mattered to him, ultimately led him to do what he did.