Bang the Drum Slowly
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Movie Reviews of Bang the Drum Slowly
Movie Review: Excellent acting by Michael Moriarty
Summary: 3 Stars
"Bang the Drum Slowly" is a 1973 adaptation of a 1956 TV program (Paul Newman and Albert Salmi) based on the Mark Harris novel of the same name. The film stars Michael Moriarty and Robert DeNiro.
Michael Moriarty is best known to us from his years playing ADA Ben Stone on "Law and Order." "Drum" was Moriarty's third film and that same year he appeared in a TV version of "The Glass Menagerie" for which he won his first Emmy. He won again in 1978 ("Holocaust") and 2001 ("James Dean") and along the way picked up 5 more nominations as well as a Golden Globe ("Holocaust") and a Tony ("Find Your Way Home") in 1974.
There's not much you can say about DeNiro. He won the Oscar twice ("Raging Bull" and "Godfather 2") and was nominated 4 other times ("Taxi Driver", "Deer Hunter", "Awakenings" and "Cape Fear") and in later years was nominated twice for the American Comedy Award ("Meet the Parents" and "Analyze This"). "Drum" was his 10th film and 2 months later his breakthrough performance in "Mean Streets" launched him on his way - the next year he appeared in "Godfather 2".
The role of the dying catcher Bruce Pierson was originally offered to Al Pacino, but Coppola wanted Pacino for "The Godfather" and had him released. DeNiro was supposed to play Paulie in "The Godfather" but had to give up that role in order to play Pierson. It worked out OK for both of them!
The film co-stars the great character actor Vincent Gardenia, comedian and sometimes actor Phil Foster, and Thelma Diamond
-Vincent Gardenia appeared in nearly 100 films and TV shows. He was twice nominated for an Oscar ("Bang the Drum Slowly" and "Moonstruck"), won an Emmy in 1990 for "Age-Old Friends" and won a Tony in 1972 for "Prisoner of Second Avenue." He gave us many memorable performances, but my favorite is Detective Frank Ochoa in "Death Wish" (1974). Gardenia plays the foul-mouthed manager of the New York Mammoths.
-Phil Foster was a great comedian, part of the borscht belt comedians that emerged in the late 30s. He's best known to us from his recurring role in "Laverne and Shirley" produced by his old friend Gary Marshall. Foster plays a team member.
- Selma Diamond plays a raspy-voiced receptionist in the New York hotel where the players stay. She's best remembered for her continuing role in the TV series "Night Court" for which she earned an Emmy nomination in 1985 (Rhea Perlman won for "Cheers"). Diamond also received an Emmy nomination for her writing work on "Caesar's Hour" (1954). She is terrific as the nosey switchboard operator.
- Ann Wedgeworth has a small role as a hooker. Wedgeworth won the National Society of Film Critics award for Best Supporting Actress in 1977 ("Handle with Care") and won a Tony as Best Actress in 1978 for Neil Simon's "Chapter Two". She was a well-known soap actress at the time the film was made, having appeared in "Another World" (1967-1970) and "Somerset" (1970-1973).
The film is basically a character study of the relationship between Moriarty and DeNiro.
The author of the novel upon which the film is based was Mark Harris. Harris is known for his baseball novels (e.g., "The Southpaw", "A Ticket for a Seam stitch", "It Looked like Forever") all of which center on the experiences of pitcher Henry "Author" Wiggins, played by Moriarty who does an absolutely terrific job as the experienced star pitcher who takes the ailing Denier character under his wing.
John Hancock directs. This was his third film, and he went on to do a dozen undistinguished films and a few TV shows. His best known film is probably "Weeds" which he also wrote. Hancock went on to have greater success on the stage.
The film was a box office success and critically acclaimed. Vincent Gardenia got an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor and DeNiro won a NY Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor. Writing for Time Magazine, Richard Schickel called it an "extraordinarily well-made film" and say that it was a "funny, gentle and honestly sentimental movie that is easily one of the best of the year in any category, and very possibly the best movie about sport ever made in this country." Roger Ebert called it "the ultimate baseball movie"
DeNiro's performance as the dumb catcher is not among his best performances. He spends a lot of time chewing tobacco and smiling, and slips in and out of his "southern" accent. His facial expressions, at times, come directly from Johnny Boy Civello, the role he did the same year in "Mean Streets" which was a completely different character. If you want to see a good performance from the young DeNiro, "Mean Streets" is the better choice.
Another problem I had with DeNiro's performance is that he doesn't look like a ball player. Whereas Michael Moriarty has us believing that he is a big league pitcher, DeNiro never looks the part. The camera tries to hide this fact in several ways (e.g., every time DeNiro comes to the plate he is filmed by himself) but everytime he is filmed with the other players, it's obvious that he is out of place. This is never more apparent than when 5 players get together to shoot a commercial, and DeNiro looks more like the bat boy than a MLB catcher.
Despite the accolades at the time, unfortunately, the film does not stand the test of time very well. "Brian's Song" provided us with a far better version of the "sports/buddy/dying" movie and the baseball scenes appear highly staged. Personally, if I wanted to watch a film about baseball, I'd look at films like "Eight Men Out" (1988), Bull Durham" (1989), and "A League of Their Own" (1992). If I wanted to watch a baseball comedy I'd watch "Damn Yankees" (1957), "Bad News Bears" (1976), or "Major League" (1989).
The greatest single virtue of this film is Michael Moriarty's performance.
Movie Review: Half as good as the novel, but not bad.
Summary: 3 Stars
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...Movie Review: Half hearted attempt at melodrama...
Summary: 2 Stars
A lot of people love this movie, so I'm preparing myself for a verbal beating, but really; I've yet to find a film as manipulative and generally unfulfilling as `Bang the Drum Slowly'. I say `yet to find' and I know that's rather harsh. There are far worse films, but for the genre, this is certainly at the bottom.
It's like `Brian's Song' without the spark.
Bruce Pearson and Henry Wiggen are teammates. When Bruce gets diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease they form a close bond as Henry looks out for Bruce, covering up his illness and sticking up for him, making sure he stays on the team and can play out his `last season'. There is growing suspicion as Bruce has to make plenty of doctor's appointments, and their coach Dutch Schnell roots around trying to find answers to his many questions, which makes it harder and harder for Bruce to keep his condition a secret.
Sooner or later, it all has to come out.
I know that many will not agree with me, but I felt that `Bang the Drum Slowly' lacked a lot of heart and soul. It just seemed very textbook and came off like an overly manipulative `Lifetime' movie. It had all the elements to create a satisfying tear jerker, but it couldn't quite construct them properly. The film wasn't as touching as it could have been because it lacked a natural spark, a life that made it feel a part of the audience. I think that De Niro is to blame for some (not all) of that. I actually found this to be a very weak performance given by one of the best actors to have ever worked in the business. I was shocked to see him sift through each scene rather lazily. Some will balk at that accusation, but hear me out. He gave a very clichéd and expected portrayal of a sick under educated man. Technically it was proficient, but it lacked any real emotion. He seemed almost bored half the time. There is a way to project the feeling of being weight down by your own anxiety without stripping the character of his appeal, and apparently De Niro didn't know how to do that yet.
But like I said, he's only partially to blame. The script was very heavy handed and the films director didn't quite know how to use that to his advantage. It had no real flow.
I will say that both Michael Moriarty and the Oscar nominated Vincent Gardenia do fine jobs with the material and actually turn in very good performances. I actually agree with Gardenia's nomination; for he brought a comedic flare and sincere concern to Dutch. Sadly, his performance is not enough to get me to recommend this movie. So, disagree all you like, but I'm not going to lie to you; this didn't work for me.