--- title: "Bull Durham: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/bull-durham/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/bull-durham" critics_score: 84 critics_reviews: 10 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Bull Durham (1988): what the critics said Critics' score 84 from 10 reviews: 10 positive, 0 mixed, 0 negative. The reviews are unanimous in their approval, and the praise settles in the same places. Most critics single out Shelton’s script first: the dialogue is quotable and offbeat, and the film is credited with treating the passions and small rituals of minor-league life rather than the game itself. Several note that Shelton’s own years in the minors give the clubhouse and the characters an authenticity most sports films lack. Kevin Costner, Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins are named again and again, Costner’s veteran catcher most often, and the romance is generally held to matter more than the baseball. The reservations are few and the spread is narrow. Variety, one of the two coolest notices, finds the locker-room talk overdone and Susan Sarandon unconvincing, which puts it alone against the rest. The Los Angeles Times thinks some touches read as writerly conceits, and The New York Times notes some unevenness in the direction. Nobody thinks the film fails. ## Empire — Angie Errigo Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 1 January 2000. The critic praises Bull Durham as a witty, insightful comedy that succeeds where most sports movies fail, highlighting its classic performances and script that explores more than just baseball. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/bull-durham-review/) ## RogerEbert.com — Roger Ebert Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 15 June 1988. The critic praises the film as a smart, realistic baseball movie with strong performances, especially from Kevin Costner, Tim Robbins, and Susan Sarandon, that captures the sport's details while delivering an appealing romantic fantasy. [Read the review](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/bull-durham-1988) ## Slant Magazine — Chuck Bowen Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 2 September 2018. The critic praises this warm, literate, erotic sports film and its vibrant Criterion restoration. Shelton is singled out for gracefully sustaining contradictory tonalities of fast-paced romantic comedy and deliberate, atmospheric baseball rituals. [Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/dvd/bull-durham/) ## The AV Club — Mike D'Angelo Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 8 April 2013. The critic declares Bull Durham the greatest baseball movie because it captures the passion, eccentric details, and philosophical undercurrents of minor-league life rather than the game itself, highlighting its idiosyncratic comedy, quotable dialogue, and poignant embrace of life's trivial joys and heartbreaks. [Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/why-bull-durham-is-the-greatest-baseball-movie-ever-mad-1798237394) ## The New Yorker — Pauline Kael Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 20 June 1988. The critic celebrates the film's witty, offbeat dialogue and lively characters in a minor-league baseball setting, highlighting strong turns from Costner, Sarandon, and Robbins along with its buoyant, unconventional rhythms. [Read the review](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1988/06/27/sunshine) ## The New York Times — Janet Maslin Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 15 June 1988. The critic describes the film as a giddy, playful look at minor-league baseball life with spring fever, spirit, and sex appeal. It highlights the romantic triangle involving Annie Savoy and two players, along with strong casting and the film's overall charm despite some directorial unevenness. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/1988/06/15/movies/review-film-when-baseball-is-love-poetry-and-even-religion.html) ## Los Angeles Times — Sheila Benson Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 15 June 1988. The review calls it a sweet and sexy comedy that celebrates minor-league baseball with resonant characters and rowdy authenticity drawn from the director's experience. It praises the performances of Sarandon and Costner, the funny baseball scenes, and the sensuality, while noting some elements feel like writerly conceits. [Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-06-15-ca-4325-story.html) ## Time Out — NF Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 10 September 2012. The critic sees it less as a baseball movie than a romantic comedy centered on the sport's mythology. They praise the easy charm of the leads and the film's focus on the central romance over game action. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/bull-durham) ## Variety — Variety Staff Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 31 December 1987. The critic calls it a fanciful and funny bush-league sports story, praising Kevin Costner's natural performance as the veteran catcher and the overall charm, while noting the overuse of locker-room dialogue as its main flaw and finding Susan Sarandon unconvincing in her role. [Read the review](https://variety.com/1987/film/reviews/bull-durham-1200427645/) ## Collider — Gil Kellerman Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 16 August 2010. The film remains the benchmark baseball movie thanks to its sharp writing and strong performances from Costner, Sarandon, and Robbins. Shelton's minor-league experience lends authenticity to the characters and their interactions. [Read the review](https://collider.com/bull-durham-blu-ray-review/) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/bull-durham.md