For Love of the Game (1999)

Although I didn't like For Love Of The Game the way I liked Bull Durham or Field Of Dreams, it's still a very entertaining film. Directed by Sam Raimi in a very subtle style, this is Costner's best film since Tin Cup. Raimi only shows flashes of his visual theatrics, Costner is very solid and I liked Kelly Preston very much. The way the story is told in the film is very fresh for a baseball movie and this is the high point for me. Baseball is just the background to a very touching love story. I hope this film more than anything else shows Hollywood that Sam Raimi is one of or greatest talents behind the camera.

Fmovies: I think this narrowly edges out Field of Dreams as the best baseball movie I've ever seen (and I've seen quite a few). The concept here is totally brilliant. Costner's character pitcher Billy Chapel is been having a bad day, he finds out that his ex-girlfriend is leaving for England and then finds out that after playing for the Tigers for 20 years the owner is selling the team and he will probably be traded. On top of it all he is playing on a really bad team in the twilight of his career with arm trouble . He has to throw one more game which may be his last ever as he tries to decide whether to retire. The Yankees meanwhile trying to clinch the pennant and the Yankee Stadium crowd is appropriately obnoxious.

And then suddenly he retires the Yankees one after another and is working on a perfect game. This is such a great topic for a movie because a perfect game is so rare that it is one of the most dramatic and exciting things in all of sports but the excitement and tension builds gradually. In the 5th or 6th inning it's no big deal but as you get later in the game the excitement builds and a meaningless game can become more suddenly become more exciting than the 7th game of the world series. I think the star of this movie is really Vin Scully, he has long been my favorite baseball announcer and he really shines here. This is a baseball movie for real baseball fans, you can tell by a lot of little things that they tried to make it as authentic as possible and did a good job. The photography and slow motion are used very effectively and Costner as usual in his baseball movies does a brilliant job of portraying his character. If you like baseball at all see this movie! It will be a classic, 10/10!

Boy, is this a movie for New York Yankee haters. The lead character is a pitcher for the Detroit Tigers and played by Kevin Costner, guy who can play the game at a high level, not just some actor faking it. And, of course, his big pitching effort is against the mighty Yankees.

My only complaint, besides the overuse of the Lord's name in vain, is that there weren't more baseball scenes in it, since they were so well done. The best character of the film was the catcher, played by John C. Reilly. There's a big romance angle in here between Costner and Kelly Preston. Some of that was good, some was annoying. Neither of those characters was particularly appealing.

What was very cool, if you have a good surround system, was the sound of Costner's fastball hitting the catcher's mitt. The loud "whoosh" sound was awesome.

For Love of the Game fmovies. This movie is one of the very best character studies of an athlete. The script, the direction, and Costner's performance yield an insightful profile of a driven character. Driven but not a jerk, and so the course of the relationship developed between the athlete and Kelly Preston's character is credible and engaging. The ways in which the other players are brought into the episodes that tell us about the main character resonate for amateur players and other baseball fans. All the performances ring familiar and true. Vin Scully is given the green light on cornball baseball homilies, but just to have Vinny's voice seasoning the movie gives authority and authenticity throughout.

I saw a sneak preview of "For Love of the Game," tonight, and I must say, I was thoroughly entertained by it. And not merely entertained in the respect of some "purely-made-to-entertain" movies, but this movie inspired emotion, one thing I think really makes a movie. If a movie makes you feel a certain way, whether it's anger, or happiness, I think it shows something. "For Love of the Game," did that for me. Costner's character, excellently portrayed in my opinion, loved baseball, and in turn, I loved his character. I loved the whole movie actually. It was funny at times, symbolic at others, and above all, it was quite enjoyable. On a scale of 1 to 10, I would give it a 10. Again, this is just my opinion, but I would definitely recommend this to anyone.

.......................................................from Pasto,Colombia...Via: L.A. CA., CALI, COLOMBIA and ORLANDO, FL

"They don't make 'em like they used to!" As regards "For Love of the Game", the above comment applies to both movies and baseball players! Old- fashioned, straight-ahead storytelling, complimented by solid performances, extremely convincing on-the-field action, excellent photography and more than competent direction by Sam Raimi, make for a resoundingly entertaining movie...even if you're not much of a baseball fan!

Perhaps the best thing going for the film is its truly innovative integration and balance of rapid- fire on-going game vs. relationship development flashback elements, allowing the viewer to "get inside the athlete's head" in a way no other movie in recent memory does. "For Love" thusly manages to put a signature spin on the subjective experience of a great athlete's swan song by sharing and highlighting the stark contrast between the external precision and perfection of the real-world game in progress, and the turbulent, highly personal, inner-world of the passions that drive him. .......................................................from Pasto,Colombia...Via: L.A. CA., CALI, COLOMBIA and ORLANDO, FL

Kevin Costner, certainly NOT the greatest actor in the world, literally shines in the mother of all tailor made roles. Kelly Preston shows us a highly focused intensity, in just what may be her best on screen appearance to date! John C. Reilly, although cast as the solid-as-a-rock-always- there- when-you-need-him-on-the-sidelines Catcher, plays to the hilt a supporting role, in every sense of the word.

There are moments in "For Love", however, that seem a touch too maudlin, trying just a little too hard to jerk that extra tear. A few of these melancholy scenes are drawn out to the point of making the viewer self- conscious and put upon. These occasional excesses are easily overlooked, however, in light of the films many strengths and its overall highly engrossing nature.

8*.....ENJOY/DISFRUTELA!