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Billy Chapel (Kevin Costner) is having a bad day. His girlfriend Jane (Kelly Preston, stunning as ever) says she's leaving, and his boss (Brian Cox) says he's selling the business and ace employee Billy may be out of job. Sounds like business as usual for an old-fashioned veteran. However, the business is baseball and for Billy Chapel, the 40-year old former all-star for the Detroit Tigers, it means his career--and his life--is at a crossroads.

Although it is no Bull Durham, For Love of the Game finds a solid and very believable role for Costner. The film is based on Michael Shaara's (The Killer Angels) stream-of-consciousness novel (the rough manuscript was found after his death 1988). The entire film takes place on Billy's day on the mound against the Yankees, a meaningless late-season game for the Tigers, but everything for Billy. In flashbacks, he lingers over his long relationship with Jane and his baseball career (from World Series heroism to a career-threatening injury). His one viable link to the game at hand is his catcher, played winningly by John C. Reilly. Costner, like Chapel, is looking for one more great performance, but the film is too simplistic and loopy at times to resonate. The love story has an extra helping of cuteness, and legendary baseball announcer Vin Scully nearly takes on a leading role, waxing grandiloquent. It's no grand slam, but a solid double. --Doug Thomas
Customer Review: Kevin Baseball
Costner has made about 5 or 6 good movies, and three of them are about baseball. Bull Durham is the comedy, Field of Dreams is the spiritual, but For Love of the Game is the more realistic of the bunch. Billy Chapel (Costner) is an aging veteran pitcher for a bad Detroit team in the twilight of his career who must decide on retirement, or accepting a trade. The movie takes place over the course of just 1 game, with back flashes of his relationship with Jane (Kelly Preston). The movie touches on the celebrity of athletes, and the difficulties of having a normal relationship. I personally thought that the underlying theme was about choosing between a career or a relationship, but I'm sure it was probably deeper than that. I have always thought that Costner was a bit of a ham who takes himself way too seriously, and while at times in this movie he tends to fall into that role, Billy Chapel is more of an understated character, and Costner is by far at his best when he plays that kind of role.
Customer Review: 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.


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