For Love of the Game (1999)

For The Love of the Game
Kevin Costner gives a very compelling performance as a baseball player at the end of his career. He is very realistic in the role and brings thought provoking issues to light. How do you decide to hang up your glove and leave a game that has been the most important thing in your life? It was great that he could personally do the pitching in this movie because it would have lost a lot of the realism and credibility if they had to use someone else.

Another Good Baseball Movie From Costner
For Love of the Game is a very enjoyable film. Costner, as usual, gives a fine performance surrounded by excellent performances from the supporting cast. The video and audio on the HD DVD are completely involving; on good AV systems, the film will play better than at a movie theater. If you like serious baseball movies (The Pride of the Yankees, The Natural, etc.), For Love of the Game will make a fine addition to your disc library.

Excellent
Not being a baseball fan at all, I hesitated to get this movie. I have Bull Durham, and like it the more I see it, great humor in that movie, but For Love of the Game is the best ever. It has almost made me a baseball fan. Kevin Costner does an outstanding job in this movie--he throws all the pitches and makes the catches himself--that alone is amazing to watch, to hear the wind whistle past the ball, see the rosen powder fly from the catcher's mitt--it doesn't get any better. The camera work is outstanding, camera angles/replays/closeups, overall film techniques used to produce realism of an actual professional game, actual umpires from the league in the role of umpires, actors with experience in minor and major league play in the role of players and coaches, fan/crowd responses, etc., it's as real as it can get.

John C. Reilly is outstanding, he portrays the essence of a real friend. Kelly Preston is good, if I had a choice I would have chosen someone with more electricity and spark with Kevin but Costner makes up for the lack of spontaneous chemistry between the two. I would have bought this movie just to see the outstanding job Costner does, however, the story line is powerful; the relationship between Billy (Kevin) and Jane (Kelly)is so real depicting the ups and downs of a relationship with two flawed people and the difficutly of having a normal life and developing love interest with someone in the public eye. It just doesn't get any better, in my opinion, than For Love of the Game.

The story in For Love of the Game is the story of life--only told from the perspective of a single baseball game. We focus on one aspect of our life--our career--and almost ride it too long and risk missing out on the most important part of our overall existence. There are flaws in this movie but only those looking for flaws can get sidetracked by that and miss one of the best movies ever. This one is a keeper and one to be watched over and over. I don't know which I like best, the love story or the shots of the baseball game--and this from someone who doesn't like baseball--both are intertwined so skillfully they can't be separated. I almost want a second copy to make sure I never lose this outstanding movie.