Bang the Drum Slowly 4K 1973

John D. Based on the 1956 novel of the same name by Mark Harris, Hancock tells us about the friendship between two baseball players on the fictional New York Mammoths team: Henry, a talented pitcher, and Bruce, a slacker catcher who plays receiver. The latter is unexpectedly diagnosed with terminal Hodgkin's disease, and Henry tries to make the last year of his friend's life and career the most colorful and memorable. I don't know how interesting it is to read Harris' novel, but the movie, based on his screenplay, was frankly cheesy and boring. The tragedy of a dying man dissolved in a series of meaningless dialog, scraps of unsophisticated filmed baseball, everyday quarrels of team players and just an idle pastime for a game of TAGWAR - a card game without any rules.

Coach “Mammoths” Dutch, with the appearance of John Goodman, at first long does not agree to sign a double contract players, then even longer and more persistent (almost a third of the movie) interrogates about their trip to Minnesota. Only once does he, to keep the team's morale up, give a rousing speech to his players, telling the parable of the fly. Henry, who seems to be constantly near his sick comrade, occasionally communicates in the frame with a strange woman about some insurance, which only fills the timing, not carrying any plot load. Bruce himself, who is a kind of scapegoat in the team, nothing special, except for the stupid expression on his face and constant chewing of tobacco, and is not remembered. Except for the activity in the game. His inner world remained a mystery, and the disease, which proceeded without apparent complications, did not awaken empathy.

In playing him De Niro yet to see even a shadow of the talent that he will strike just three years later in “Taxi Driver”. All the more surprising that for this role, the actor received his first cinematic award - the award of the New York Film Critics Association as the best supporting actor. Vincent Gardenia, who plays the coach, was also honored with an Academy Award nomination in the best actor category, but, again, as a supporting actor. And this, in my opinion, is another problem of the movie - there is no protagonist, no central character, no narrative pivot who could refresh, invigorate, and perhaps even blow up this sluggish movie with his performance.

The only thing that brings it to life is the team that unexpectedly started winning in the last third of the movie, and Bruce, who played as perfectly as ever, despite his progressing illness. Among other things, the musical number with his participation in the team ensemble is quite captivating. And in general, Stephen Lawrence's music makes the viewing more cozy, but it never becomes a memorable and complete soundtrack. As a result, it remains a mystery to me why this film is so beloved by American critics and ... Al Pacino, who calls it one of his favorites. I believe that the picture deservedly went into oblivion, serving as a milestone only for the gaining career of young De Niro, but not for his fans, and certainly not for the outside viewer.