# For Love of the Game (1999)

### reviewed by
Walter Frith

    'For Love of the Game' (1999)

    A movie review by Walter Frith

    wfrith@cgocable.net

    Member of the 'Online Film Critics Society'
    http://www.ofcs.org

Kevin Costner was on top of the world at the end of the 1980's. He had 'The Untouchables', 'Bull Durham' and 'Field of Dreams' all on his list of accomplishments and he still would win two Oscars for directing and co-producing 'Dances With Wolves' in 1990 and would give his best performance ever in 1991's 'JFK'. How things change. By the end of the 1990's, Costner has had a string of turkeys and/or lukewarm projects far below his potential. 'Waterworld' and 'The Postman' would bring him severe ridicule (although I thoroughly enjoyed and rated 'The Postman' highly). All actors struggle at some point in their career but it's been an 8 year struggle for Costner now and things don't get any better with 'For Love of the Game'.

In this film, Costner plays Billy Chapel, a 19 year pitching veteran of the Detroit Tigers. The opening credits show newspaper headlines and home movies of Chapel's early life throwing the ball around with his father and his rise from the little leagues to the minor leagues to the major leagues. Set for a place in the hall of fame, Chapel is about to come face to face with his most important game ever as he takes the mound at the loneliest place in baseball, as a visiting player at Yankee Stadium.

As he is the midst of pitching a perfect game, Chapel reflects on his past, predominantly on his 5 year relationship with a writer named Jane Aubrey (Kelly Preston) and her teenage daughter (Jena Malone). Costner's reflection on the past is not an easy one since he met face to face with Jane on this game day and she tells him she is ending their relationship and moving to London to accept a better job.

When I first read about the plot for this film where Chapel reflects on his past while possibly pitching a perfect game, I assumed we would see Billy Chapel in his glory days as a player and the many things that a pitcher remembers. Winning his first World Series, hitting his first batter, being involved in his first bench clearing brawl and his overall relationship with baseball and his fellow team mates. Instead, the film takes a shallow and overly repetitive turn and reflects only on Costner's romantic past with the woman in his life so the film turns out to be more about the needless romantic sub plot instead of about the game that Costner says he loves. This is a major disappointment, especially to people such as myself who truly love baseball.

Using baseball as a metaphor for 'Field of Dreams' worked because that film possessed a dream like quality about life's transcending moments of regret, the desire to fulfill dreams and the question of whether there is another world after this one. It was a film that had hypnotic beauty and looked very original. 'Bull Durham' was an authentic look at life on the road in the minor leagues but the film was riddled with too much sexual innuendo and I have never really enjoyed it very much as it failed to nail down what it was REALLY about.

'For Love of the Game' is written by Dana Stevens based on the novel by Michael Shaara and is directed with ordinary tendencies by Sam Raimi who made 1998's 'A Simple Plan' which was very depressing but was better film making than this movie which has absolutely no memorable qualities whatsoever and is just another exercise in telling another love story which neither convinces us that the people involved really care about each other nor does it do anything for the game of baseball. Incidentally, if you've seen a particular clip from the advertising spots for the film and know the plot going in, it won't be too hard for you to figure out whether or not Chapel gets his perfect game. If Costner is smart, maybe he will make a truly authentic baseball movie to celebrate the game he is crazy about. Maybe a biography of a famous player would be a good idea.

    OUT OF 5 > * *

Visit FILM FOLLOW-UP by Walter Frith http://www.cgocable.net/~wfrith/movies.htm

    * * * * * - a must see
    * * * * 1/2 - don't miss it
    * * * * - an excellent film
    * * * 1/2 - a marginal recommendation
    * * * - can't quite recommend it
    * * 1/2 - don't recommend it
    * * - avoid it
    * 1/2 - avoid it seriously
    * - avoid it AT ALL COSTS
    1/2 - see it at your own risk
    zero - may be hazardous to your health

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