Original artwork, not a still
You're right I suppose, I mean, I guess it is childish. But when I was about 18 and my dad and I couldn't communicate about anything at all, we could still talk about baseball. Now that - that was real.
— City Slickers • 1991
Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
The film turns from loud jokes to something tender: Phil, the least swaggering of the three friends, uses baseball as the thing that kept him in touch with his father when nothing else could. It is the line people quote when they defend any apparently trivial obsession as a way of holding on to a person.
Context reviewed
In context
Spoilers for City SlickersShow the scene
On the cattle drive in City Slickers, the city friends Mitch, Ed and Phil are sitting on their bedrolls with fellow rider Bonnie when the talk turns to what is more interesting, women discussing relationships or men discussing baseball. Bonnie says she has never understood how men can talk baseball for so long; Ed insists that if relationships were as interesting as baseball, they would have cards for them and sell them with gum. After Mitch tells Ed it is time for him to hibernate, Phil, the quiet one of the three, concedes that it may be childish. He then explains that when he was about 18, he and his father could not talk about anything, but they could still talk about baseball.
Sources (2)
- City Slickers, fan-transcribed scriptcampfire discussion about baseballReference checked
- Wikiquote: City Slickersbedroll baseball sceneReference checked
Context reviewed
