Kailansorac Clever, believable, and super fun to watch. It totally has replay value.

Murphy Howard I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

Michelle Ridley The movie is wonderful and true, an act of love in all its contradictions and complexity

Billy Ollie Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

richard-1787 This movie left me wondering what I missed. The script, I suspect, is to blame. I developed no empathy for any of the characters, including the one dying of cancer. I didn't understand most of the relationships. Why did the pitcher have such concern for the catcher? Nor did I understand why the catcher suddenly became a phenomenal hitter. This movie went no where to me. It always seemed very flat.One of the posters on here who liked it spoke of the dialogue. The dialogue, also flat, often seemed very artificial to me. I couldn't imagine anyone talking like that.I feel as if I missed something here, but I have no idea what. This movie just didn't do anything, as far as I was concerned.

djhbooklover I saw this when it was released in 1973. I did not know anything about DeNiro, Moriarty, or Mark Harris but I am a lifetime baseball lover and fan as is my wife. We were accompanied by a couple who also loved this production and none of had ever heard a word about it. It captures the feeling of baseball from the opening jogging scene throughout despite the fact that is not really about baseball as much as it's about dying. I also played baseball from age 12 to 18 and went to numerous games. I agree with all the favorable reviews and many of the disparaging ones as technical points are often well taken. Mark Harris wrote four books about baseball and Henry Wiggens; The Southpaw, this one, A Ticket for a Seamstitch, It Looked Like Forever as well as a collection of essays one of which I may have read as it is about his life long love of baseball and the making of the movie. Each of his books tells a story about humanity with baseball as an underlying theme. The essay on the movie mentions that it was partially financed by a reader who loved the story, none of the stars were baseball experienced but worked very hard to be convincing and I believe they captured the essence of the book preserving the humor and the Ring Lardner flavor.

knucklebreather "Bang the Drum Slowly" is among the best baseball movies. For my money, it might be the very best. Its story is simple - Henry Wiggen, the intelligent and savvy ace pitcher of the New York Mammoths, learns that his best friend on the team, simpleminded, kindhearted catcher Bruce Pearson, has terminal cancer and a year to live. A baseball season to live.This is a story about friendship and about being a decent human being. It's about how, as Bruce laments, there's just no sense to his death. The movie is built around a baseball season, and it's certainly a baseball movie, but it's a rare sports movie where the human drama isn't clichéd and predictable but actually makes the film. The baseball elements are well-done, to be sure, the teammate's show a realistic mix of cockiness and genuine concern for a teammate, and the plot involving the manager's spirited investigation of Bruce's off-season activities, not yet knowing he was at a cancer hospital, is funny and realistic at the same time. However, the reason to watch this is the simple but powerful human drama - the baseball season can't help but take a back seat to that.Aside from the stellar story, this movie is memorable for the acting. Of course, Robert Deniro gives an excellent performance in a role that's quite different than what he'd become known for. But Deniro as the kindhearted, simpleminded Pearson really shows off his range. As overlooked as the film itself is Michael Moriarty's top-shelf performance as Wiggen. While Moriarty evidently has less range (he plays Wiggen much as he would play Ben Stone in Law & Order two decades later, right down to calling everyone "sir") Moriarty's intelligent, noble and soul-searching demeanor is naturally perfect for the role. And I can't forget to mention Vincent Gardenia as manager Dutch Schnell. Playing any other character, Gardenia's work here would have been absurd, but his zany acting is totally appropriate for a famous baseball manager, a line of work where flamboyant, over-the-top behavior is essentially a job requirement, regardless of what era of baseball you're talking about.While I don't know if we could ever definitively determine a "best" baseball movie, because a lot of it comes down to personal taste. But for me, "Bang the Drum Slowly" is everything I want in a baseball movie. I think any fan of the game owes it to themselves to check this film out if they have the chance.

maggimae83 I saw this movie when it came out in 73 and it has remained a favorite of mine. At the time, Moriarty was the bigger star. DeNiro was practically an unknown. The movie has some very amusing parts (the game of TEGWAR for instance). But the real reason I love this movie is its message. At the beginning of the movie, the team is made up of a bunch of players who, for the most part, are only out for themselves. They are talented, but don't work together as a team. It is only when they find out Piney is dying that they begin to work as a team for his sake. This is why they win the pennant. I think this movie has a great message for young people. I would like to see a remake of it.