"The Fan" — Robert De Niro's Circle of Trust
Who’s in and who’s out?
Synopsis: When the San Francisco Giants’s new high-profile signing Bobby Rayburn experiences a career slump, mega-fan Gil Renard will stop at nothing to help Rayburn regain his form—even if that means committing murder.
Who is Gil Renard?
Gil Renard lives and breathes the San Francisco Giants. Every square inch of his home and person is adorned with the Giants logo—from his cap to his wristwatch that chimes the team’s jingle.
He spends his mornings ripping down San Francisco's Great Highway in his decked-out fanboy van, countless miles of reckless driving etched into the chewed-up face of the bobblehead perched on the dashboard.
Every day he dials into a local call-in radio show and barks Giants stats and analysis. The hosts recognize him by name and voice.
You get the sense that he has spent every dollar of disposable income and every ounce of available energy on the franchise. The only non-Giants thing about Gil is his New York accent, which the movie makes no effort to explain.
He is, by all metrics, the team’s #1 fan.
At baseball games, Gil expresses his fandom with menace, pushing everyone out of the way—even his own son—to catch a ball hit into the stands. That’s because to Gil, there is no difference between a fan and the athletes they pay to see—everyone in the stadium deserves to seize what’s theirs, tangible or intangible.
Of course, this is the deluded thought of someone who failed to realize their potential and never made it in the big leagues. And so a frustrated Gil drills this mindset into his son, that the key to baseball success is not admiration but obsession.
In fact, any real fan should be willing to murder their favorite player’s teammate to secure them a spot in the starting lineup if that makes them feel better about their fandom.
That’s maybe where Gil and the world’s fiercest sports fans diverge, because, you see, Gil is a psychopath.
In addition to being a hunting knife enthusiast with a deadly accurate throwing arm—a vestige from his playing days—Gil is prone to emotional meltdowns. Add an explosive temper, a restraining order from his wife, and a pair of stalking binoculars, and you have the most unstable sports fan on the planet.
He’s like if you dropped a Mento sleeve into a bottle of Coke before dropping that bottle into a nuclear reactor.
Is he as dangerous as an average Philadelphia Eagles fan? Probably not.
Does anyone move in or out of the Circle of Trust?
Bobby Rayburn.
When Bobby arrives at Candlestick Park on a $40 million contract, no one is happier than Gil. He believes Bobby is worth three times that figure since he is guaranteed to lead the team to one if not multiple World Series titles.
After Gil loses his job—and his son after his ex-wife imposes a restraining order against him—he is left with nothing but his beloved Giants. As he has invested most of his life into the team, he might as well lean into his fandom as if it were a full-time job. The World Series or bust, so to speak.
Nearing the end of his rope, Gil places the burden of his emotional stability on Bobby’s play. Since he has, in a sense, helped the team fund Bobby’s acquisition, he thus feels entitled to play an active role in his season.
When Bobby gets injured on opening day, hits a slump, and, in turn, loses his jersey number and position to a teammate, Gil takes it upon himself to help him get back on track.
Somehow blind to the fact that his favorite team is on a hot streak and winning games, Gil hunts down Bobby’s replacement (who’s playing great, helping Gil’s favorite team win games) and stabs him dead in a sauna.
As a result, Bobby reclaims his starting spot and, soon thereafter, his confidence.
Unfortunately, Gil sours on Bobby when, in a TV interview, he doesn’t acknowledge the impact his teammate’s murderer had on his return to form. Feeling unappreciated, Gil kidnaps Bobby’s son and dog and threatens to kill them if Bobby doesn’t dedicate a home run to him at the next home game.
Oh, how fickle fans can be.
Join us next week for Jacknife (1989)
Check out the Robert De Niro Circle of Trust spreadsheet here.
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