Rating: 
Summary: Excellent Baseball Story
Review: 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 Chapel's catcher. He was quietly supportive and unobtrusive, the way catchers usually are. He portrayed intense desire in a demure and low key way without overacting. It was a nice performance by an actor in a supporting role playing a baseball player in a supporting role. I love baseball and this was a great baseball movie so I rated it 8/10. Anyone who enjoys sports will probably enjoy this film.
Rating: 
Summary: A great mix of baseball and life
Review: Many times in life we fail to realize the things we have until they walk out of our life forever. That was what happened to Costner in this movie. He loved baseball more than anything and failed to realize what really made him happy. All of this changes within his nine innings of perfection. Here he not only throws the game of his life, but also gets the love of his life back. All in all a great flick!
Rating:
Summary: KEVIN COSTNER AT HIS BEST
Review: I LOVED THIS MOVIE. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO BE A FAN OF BASEBALL TO APPRECIATE THIS WONDERFUL STORY. I REALLY LIKED THE WAY THAT THE CHARACTER LOOKED BACK OVER HIS LIFE AS HE PLAYS THE GAME THAT HE LOVES SO MUCH. KEVIN IS EXCELLANT IN THE ROLE AS HE USUALLY IS IN ALL HIS MOVIES.IT WAS ALSO VERY FITTING FOR THE CHARACTER WHO IS GETTING ON IN YEARS TO BE PLAYING WHAT MAYBE HIS LAST GAME IN YANKEE STADIUM NY AS THE FANS ARE TRULY THE RUDEST GROUP OF SPECTATORS THAT ANY ATHELTHE CAN PERFORM IN FRONT OF AND COULD CARE LESS ABOUT THE PLIGHT OF THIS CHARACTER. SORRY BUT I'M A NEW YORKER AND THE TRUTH IS THE TRUTH.
Rating: 
Summary: Could've been made in the 40s starring Ronald Reagan
Review: Boring, maudlin, mawkish, charmless, depressing, contrived, unrealistic, shallow, awkward, embarrassing, plodding, confusing, slow...am I leaving anything out? My favorite scene: Costner's on the mound, a former teammate somes up to bat. Costner wonders aloud "Are we really that old?" This is the work of a talented director in over his head and eager to please, and an over-the-hill overpaid actor who needs to get back to his roots.
Rating:
Summary: Great Baseball, Fair Love Story
Review: Never have I seen such an accurate depiction of how the love of baseball can get inside a person. Costner shows the world what that love demands, and he does it with class and dignity. It's more than a "feel good" movie, it's a study in sports psychology. My only complaint was that the love story angle was too drawn out. It was about 30 minutes longer than it needed to be, and I was tired of it by the end. Still, it was worth sitting through for the game scenes.
Rating:
Summary: Emotional
Review: An outstanding combination of sports and romance that will stimulate the emotions in all but the most case-hardened. Will satisfy the sports fans as well as the romantics. Just the right balance of both. And the conclusion...you will discover a smile under those tears.
Rating:
Summary: A true romance seen through the beauty of Baseball
Review: How this movie was not nominated for an academy award I will never know. This movie is not only for people who truely love the game, but Costner brings his romance for Kelly Preston and the love for the game together as one. Beautiful movie.
Rating: 
Summary: Costner Can Throw Heat, But The Romance Is Lukewarm At Best
Review: Kevin Costner again delivers a fine performance as an aging ballplayer at a crossroads in his life. Unlike in Bull Durham, this time Costner plays a "sure-fire Hall of Famer" who may be pitching his last game in the bigs. Most of the story centers on this game, with Costner's character Billy Chappel looking back through flashbacks to key moments in his life and career. Most of the flashbacks deal with the end of the pitcher's romance with his girlfriend, played by Kelly Preston. The romance itself is lukewarm, and at times it seems the only reason these two are together is because the script says so. John C. Reilly does a great job as the veteran catcher also looking at his last shot of glory. Jena Malone and Anthony Fultz are winners in supporting roles. While the romance plays out well, there should have been more attention played to the flashbacks of other portions of the pitcher's life and career. His parents and fellow players are given too little time in the flashbacks, and some storylines are left ripe on the vine. Real baseball fans will groan at some of this movie (if you know that Frank Robinson is fourth all-time on the career homerun list, don't expect greatness here), but overall, the actors do a decent job as major leaguers. Vin Scully adds the most realism for the real baseball fan. Overall, this movie rates high. It loses points for undeveloped stories, but still scores big. For all the buildup, the ending falls a little flat. A few may shed tears at the end of the baseball game, but this is no "Brian Song", so men may not cry. If you like baseball movies, this is worth a watch.
Rating:
Summary: This baseball movie is a gem!
Review: The framework is a major league baseball game. The memories are those of an aging pitcher, Billy Chapel, whose day is not going well at all. His team, the Detroit Tigers are out of the pennant race and expected to lie down like a dog at the behest of the New York Yankees. Moreover, the team has been sold and Chapel is expected to be traded to San Francisco when the sale is announced. His lover, Jane Aubrey, has told him that she "can't do this anymore" and she's headed to London and out of his life. As his catcher, Gus Osinski, told him, it's just not his day. We're often told that baseball is like life; it meanders and goes along paths we may not expect. And so it is with Billy Chapel, who is pitching his heart out while he relives his life, especially after a chance meeting with Aubrey on a bridge over the Harlem River. Her car has broken down and Chapel stops, ostensibly to help her fix it. Jane, being the cynical New Yorker she is, waves Billy off, but he's intrigued and he prevails on Jane to let him take a look under her hood. Aubrey gets behind the wheel, turns the key; nothing happens. Chapel reaches in, jiggles a wire or two and, to his fortune, the car starts. Jane is pleased and thanks Billy who admits he didn't really do anything. Of course, in a typical New York moment, the tow truck shows up and the operator more or less demands that Aubrey let her car be towed. Chapel uses the opportunity to invite her to a game he's pitching and dinner afterwards. Now, it might be thought that Billy Chapel is setting himself up for a groupie situation. After a night of passionate sex, that's exactly what Aubrey thinks as well and she wants no part of it. What follows is a recounting of how Billy and Jane come together and fall apart more than once. This is an excellent baseball movie, with wonderful dramatic stretches and also lots of humor. Kevin Costner, who's done a baseball movie or two in his career, is totally believable as Billy Chapel, a character who seem somewhat modeled after Steve Carlton in that he only wants to pitch to his longtime battery-mate, Osinski (John C. Reilly). Osinski knows Chapel's abilities well and he needles and cajoles Chapel to get the most out of him, not only on the diamond, but in life as well. Vin Scully and Steve Lyons of Fox Sports appear as themselves doing the play-by-play of the game we see unfolding before our eyes. Scully's dialogue sounds as if it sprang right from his mouth, the way he normally speaks. I'd be interested in whether his dialogue was written (most likely) or ad lib. If there's a disappointment among the entire production, it is the performance of Kelly Preston as Jane Aubrey. Aubrey, we discover along the way, has a past which would seem to explain her on-again / off-again relationship with Chapel. Not all of this is Preston's fault; some of it has to belong to screenwriter Dana Stevens who adapted a novel by Michael Shaara. The baseball scenario is near-perfection, but the treatment of the romance leaves something to be desired. Regardless, Sam Raimi's near-flawless direction of material we don't normally see him do, makes the entire film one to enjoy. It has excellent comic timing, yet marvelous dramatic sequence both surrounding the game and external to it. Basil Poledouris' original score heightened the drama and never detracted from the film. If you like baseball, you'll love this movie. Costner, who co-produced, must bring something extra to movies about baseball because of his love of the game. This film is one of those that truly has something for everyone and almost completely pulls it off. I heartily recommend it. [Originally reviewed on 18 September 1999]
Rating:
Summary: Costner and Sports...
Review: Really, you can't go wrong with Costner and sports, and specifically baseball. Look back at Bull Durham, Field of Dreams, Tin Cup, and now For Love of the Game. Kevin does a decent job as an aging star pitcher and how baseball consumes his life, to the detriment of his relationships sometimes. Entertaining, with an ending that will make your sweetheart cry.
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