# For Love of the Game (1999)

### reviewed by
James Sanford

Over a decade ago, Kevin Costner cemented his star status by appearing in two of the best movies ever made about baseball, "Bull Durham" and "Field of Dreams." So "For Love of the Game," which finds Costner returning to the ballpark, arrives with considerable baggage. Will it be a sexy comedy like "Durham" or a world-class tearjerker like "Dreams"? Neither, as it turns out, although the film dabbles somewhat shyly in both genres.

Instead, "Game," which features some of the glossiest photography since Doris Day retired from the screen, is one of those stories in which an aging pro has to decide whether to bow out with some degree of dignity or keep on fighting in the hope of recapturing his glory days. Billy Chapel (Costner) has been a Detroit Tigers pitcher for 19 years and his perpetually aching body is telling him it may be time to hang up his glove for good. Just prior to a game in New York against the Yankees, Billy gets the word the Tigers have been sold and he's about to be traded, prompting plenty of soul-searching on the mound and at least one flashback per inning.

But rather than reflecting on his career, Billy spends the afternoon pondering his l-e-n-g-t-h-y relationship with journalist Jane (Kelly Preston). Though the movie insists theirs is an affair to remember, the evidence presented onscreen is wholly unconvincing. For the past five years it seems these two have been engaged in some games of their own, dropping in on each other with no advance notice so they can feel awful when they get rebuffed, carrying on going-nowhere phone conversations and spending a few fleeting moments in bed together whenever their schedules allow. Oh yeah, and they also apologize -- a lot: "I'm sorry about what I said that day at the condo," "I'm sorry I didn't call," etc.

Last week's episode of HBO's "Sex in the City" offered a perfectly accurate (and unprintable) name for this kind of arrangement; suffice to say it had nothing to do with love. The copious footage devoted to Billy and Jane's encounters might have been easier to sit through is there was any magic between Costner and Preston, but they're acting in two different films.

Like Robert Redford, Costner is a romantic who only truly comes to life opposite a strong female co-star. Pair him with the saucy Susan Sarandon in "Durham," feisty Amy Madigan in "Dreams" or the jittery Rene Russo in "Tin Cup," and he's motivated to work to keep up. With a less secure leading lady such as Olivia Williams in "The Postman" or Jeanne Tripplehorn in "Waterworld," Costner can barely even feign interest.

That's exactly what happens in "Game." Preston, a genuine ball of fire back in the days of "Drugstore Cowboy," has since become a curiously affected actress who always seems to be imitating someone else. In this case, she's doing her best faux Meg Ryan and she's so caught up in determining the proper way to wrinkle her nose she seems to forget who she's sharing the screen with. Consequently, Costner fades out.

Not for a moment do you believe Billy and Jane belong together anywhere outside a hotel suite. Costner actually turns out to have more chemistry with John C. Reilly, playing catcher/confidante Gus. "Game" improves substantially when it concentrates on the friendship between these two veterans who can still remember when baseball was about more than salary caps, TV rights and corporate sponsorship.

Occasionally, writer Dana Stevens' ("City of Angels") dialogue has some of the zing of Ron Shelton's smart-mouthed "Durham" script and there are a few genuinely intriguing passages in which Billy does something called "clearing the mechanism," a mental process that shuts out all the chaos around him and allows him to focus solely on his pitching. These scenes are also the only parts of the movie that seem to have engaged director Sam Raimi's interest; there's very little evidence of his generally audacious style anywhere else. James Sanford

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