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For Love of the Game | Year: 1999 Classification: Drama Directed: - Sam Raimi Actors/Actresses: - Jena Mallone - Kelly Preston - Kevin Costner - Ted Raimi Excellent Baseball Story This is an excellent baseball movie and a decent romantic entry as well. Billy Chapel (Kevin Costner) is a veteran pitcher with an accomplished career who is headed for the Hall of Fame. On the day we meet him he has a lot on his mind. He is informed that his team is being sold, he is being traded and the love of his life is moving to England. Add to this the pain in his pitching arm, his impending decision on whether to retire and the fact that winning this game is critical in determining if the Yankees go to the playoffs, and you have a man with overloaded neurons. The story unfolds as an introspective retrospective. As he is pitching this important game, he is thinking about his childhood, his relationship with Jane (Kelly Preston) and how he is going to get the next batter out. He is so preoccupied that it doesn't even dawn on him until the eighth inning that there have been no Yankee hits and he has been pitching a perfect game. The flashback elements are expertly woven into the game, giving us a genuine feeling for his distraction. This is a fresh perspective for a sports movie. Instead of simply focusing on what the player is doing, the film focuses on what he is thinking while he is doing it. It gives us an authentic look at how athletes get "in the zone", filtering out all the noise and concentrating totally on their performance. Those who have been involved in athletic competition can identify with this state, although only the best can achieve it at will. Sam Raimi's direction on this film was excellent. His direction of the love story was nothing special, but he did a superb job on the baseball scenes. The combination of on the field action, commentary by Vin Scully and simulated TV telecast footage was so well done that it was impossible to differentiate it from a major league game in progress. The acting ranged from fair to excellent. Kelly Preston was very good as Jane. She brought a full range of emotional expression to the part, though she sometimes got a little shrill, like the scene in the hospital where she screams out "Is this America? Is baseball still the national pastime." Overall though, she played the part of the torn lover very well. Kevin Costner is no great lead actor and it is hard to understand why he is so popular. Perhaps it is his whiny lost boy charm that makes women want to mother him. In the love story, he again presented as listless and uninspired. But in the baseball scenes, he came alive. In fact, in these scenes Costner was not acting so much as acting out. He loves baseball and was obsessed with doing all his own baseball scenes. He is a top notch athlete, so he really could throw a curveball and his fastball had plenty of pop. His ability to portray a professional athlete in this instance was superlative, probably due to his having played the game scholastically. So overall, I would have to rate his performance here as very good. John Reilly gets a very honorable mention as Near-Perfect Pitch Kevin Costner (Bull Durham, Field of Dreams) and baseball movies go together like hot dogs and... well, baseball. They work a magic to become something greater than their individual parts. While some people feel Costner films should be avoided like whatever they make hot dogs out of (am I stretching this metaphor too thin?), there is no doubt that baseball makes them both more acceptable to the palette. In For Love of the Game, Costner plays Billy Chapel, a forty year old major league pitcher in the twilight of his career. During the course of the final game of the season, he reflects on his life and his career. Listening to Billy talk to himself as he stands on the pitcher's mound, the audience hears his desperation and his confidence. From the inner peace he finds to block out the distractions of Yankee Stadium to his decision to brush a batter away from the plate. But this isn't just about one game, it's about Billy's career and his on-again/off-again relationship with Jane Aubrey (Kelly Preston, Holy Man). It's about beginnings and endings, coming together and coming apart. It's about the best game of a career at the worst time of a life. Billy has his moments, but he also makes mistakes. Through it all, Costner makes us believe it. Costner shows us Billy's desperate need to find someone to share his victories with, but we also see a darker side. He is capable of great passion, but also great spite. We don't always love him, or understand his actions, but he is utterly human. With stunning camera work and vision, director Sam Raimi turns Costner's duel into a thing of beauty. Every pitch becomes a breathtaking moment. The segues to Billy's past are seamless and never confusing. Perhaps the best thing that can be said about For the Love of the Game is its devotion to baseball. Even in Billy's personal life, baseball is ever present. This is a baseball movie dealing with the soul of the game. It's a film that speaks to the heart and makes us cry. Not because it's hopelessly romantic, but because it reminds us of our own endings. No matter what they may be. At the twilight of summer, as the regular season draws to a close, this movie reminds us why we love baseball. I loved this movie this movie has to be one of the best baseball and love movies I have ever seen. It is perfect for a date because the guy can get into the baseball part and aa little bit of the love story and the girl can get into the love story and a little bit of the baseball story without feeling let down Buy For Love Of The Game at Amazon.com Buy posters at Allposters.com Jamster - the latest ringtones for your phone!  Search with Walhello on the Internet on For Love Of The Game Search with the Priority Search Engine on For Love Of The Game This page in other languages: Suomeksi | Nederlands | Deutsch
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