The film is based on a novel by Mark Harris of the same name and follows a year with the New York Yankees. It focuses on the relationship between the team’s star pitcher, Henry ‘Author’ Wiggen (Michael Moriarty), and the backup catcher, Bruce Pearson, (a young Robert De Niro.)

Author is articulate and cultured. He is a licensed insurance salesman and earned his moniker because he has written a book. Bruce is a slow-witted good old boy from down South. In the off-season, Bruce finds out that he has a very serious illness and turns to his only friend, Author, in his time of need. Author, who is currently in a contract squabble with management, decides that he will only resign with the Yankees if they provide him with the clause in his contract that, no matter what happens, he and Bruce must remain teammates. The team reluctantly agrees knowing that they would be lost without their ace pitcher on the mound.

As the season starts, the team goes through their ups and downs, as does Bruce. The team’s manager, Dutch (Vincent Gardenia), senses something is going on with Bruce and wants to get to the bottom of it. This forces Author to try avoid Dutch’s inquiries while trying to keep his teammates from giving Bruce a hard time, all without disclosing his friend’s illness.

Bang the Drum Slowly was directed by John Hancock (whose next most notable film would be the Nick Nolte vehicle Weeds), and he does an admirable job of making a heartfelt film without crossing the line of sappiness, much in the same vein as the football film Brian’s Song. Made the same year as Mean Streets, De Niro shows his range as an actor departing from his street wise New Yorkers to play this shy, reserved Southerner. Moriarty carries himself like a ballplayer, and every note of his performance rings true. Vincent Gardenia earned an Academy Award nomination for his portrayal of the hard-nosed manager. The film also features Danny Aiello in his second screen performance.

Corky is not the only colorful character in the show. Co-writer, Eugene Levy, plays a lazy-eyed dentist who loves Johnny Carson; indie-film goddess Parker Posey plays a pretty but dim-witted Dairy Queen employee; and Fred Willard and Maureen O’Hara are a husband and wife singing/travel agent team who have never left Blaine.

Red, White, and Blaine is Corky’s first production since the accidental near-fire on the set of his musical version of Backdraft. He sees this play as his most important project and cannot comprehend why the city council refuses to increase the play’s budget to more than twice the town’s annual operating expenses. As the show nears completion, Corky learns through his old theatre contacts from New York that respected Broadway critic Mr. Guffman will be attending their show. The cast and crew realize that a positive review from Guffman might be the kind of exposure they need to take the show on the road and hit the big time.

In his sophomore effort behind the camera (The Big Picture was his first), Guest has produced an unqualified comedic gem. The former SCTV and Saturday Night Live comedian hits all the right notes with his observations on the theatre and small town life. He pokes fun at the people in the mid-western town without being condescending to them.

Throughout the film, the townsfolk seem to be oblivious to the fact that no one has any talent; however, the final production is actually not that bad. In addition to creating a film with eccentric yet identifiable characters, Guest has included several hilarious moments of “additional footage” as the credits roll of what the cast is doing now.

Waiting for Guffman was released theatrically last year, just a few months before a small independent British film about the inhabitants of a small town putting on a strip act, The Full Monty became an international success. Although it does not have the same heart that helped make The Full Monty a phenomenal hit, overall, it is a funnier and more entertaining movie than the Academy Award nominee.