4. Bull Durham
Baseball is unique from other major professional sports in that just because you’re a pro doesn’t mean that you’re living the easy life. For every guy in the majors, there are ten guys struggling in the minors, busing around the country, hoping to get that call saying it’s time to move up another rung on the ladder to the show. While many films have shown this, none does it better than Bull Durham.
Kevin Costner shines as a grizzled minor league catcher who takes a young pitcher under his wing. Many players have proclaimed that Bull Durham is the most accurate representation of what the minor leagues are actually like. That realism is probably a result of the fact that writer/director Ron Shelton spent a few years playing in the minors in the Baltimore Orioles organization.
The relationship between Costner and Susan Sarandon is almost more enjoyable than any of the on-the-field action we see. She’s awesome in her baseball groupie role, but still, it’s the game that propels the story forward and makes for one of the most heart-felt, hilarious, and authentic baseball films ever made.