Pour l'amour du jeu

This was one of those rare events where you find yourself clicking through channels and luck upon the beginning of a movie so engrossing that the world completely stops until the credits roll. This is Costner's greatest performance, with a depth of emotion that we've never seen before.

This is much more than a baseball film. It's a love story about love and baseball, and life and facing the future when you finally "grow up." It's about the choices behind us and the chances ahead.

As not a American i just love these kind of movies, this is a great movie. This is real American drama and a feel good movie. I saw this many times and just watch Moneyball also a great movie. I just say if wanna watch a movie about baseball that also has some feel good and you can see with your girl without the story he you wanna watch sports again watch this. Great makes me pink a cry every time.

Why do I love this movie so much? I'm not a baseball fan. I didn't really like FIELD OF DREAMS. And I hated BULL DURHAM. Yet this movie just captivates me every time I watch it.

Part of it is the tight, real-time structure -- the whole movie takes place in a man's head while he pitches a perfect baseball game on the mound. It therefore combines the tension of a thriller with the poignant emotions of an elegy.

But what I loved most about this movie is that there are no clichés. Kevin Costner's character, Billy Chapel, is not a "sports underdog." It's very clear he is a great athlete who has had a great career, and that he can walk away at any time with lots of money and lots of respect. The only reason that pitching the perfect game matters to him is purely for the perfection of his art -- for the love of the game.

At the same time, not all the action is on the baseball diamond. In the romantic drama, Kevin Costner does much more than play the usual Costner "nice guy." Billy Chapel can be cold, egocentric, and difficult -- just like any other creative artist. But he always surrounds himself with people who are strong enough to challenge him and help him stay grounded. It's no exaggeration to say that the supporting cast in this film -- John C. Reilly as the catcher, Kelly Preston as the girl friend, and Jena Malone as the girl friend's adorable teenage daughter -- are very much the stars. They really set Costner up for an unusually mature, disciplined performance. Just the way Chapel's team mates set him up for the perfect game! This movie wasn't that well received by the critics. I remember one frightfully cultured fellow at the NEW YORKER sniffing that Costner's character is "arrogant." Note well that if an artist or an intellectual is cold and demanding, it's okay. But athletes should be jolly, ape like simpletons, the kind who know their place. This complex, poignant movie is actually quite subversive, since it forces you to realize that baseball is a thinking man's game and that athletes (and their working class fans) are not nearly as stupid as the real simpletons who write for the NEW YORKER.

Shocking!!!

This is a tale of Kevin Costner's baseball pitcher in his last game as a pro and on the verge of a perfect game. All this is intercut with flashbacks to poignant moments in his life as he contemplates his career, his life and his loves.

Sam Raimi, surprisingly considering his horror leanings, directs very well, if a little schmaltzy toward the end. Costner is great, Kelly Preston is ok and a touch underwritten. John C Reilly offers great support.

Best not to judge the movie too harshly. Just put your phone down and let the warm waves of cheese wash over you as you succumb to the somewhat sappy loveliness.

FIRST: Let us FOCUS on the Title's Content and Context......

"They just don't make 'em like they used to!" As regards "For Love of the Game", the above comment applies to both movies and baseball players!

Old-fashioned, straight-ahead storytelling, complimented by solid performances, extremely convincing on-the-field action, excellent photography and more than competent direction by Sam Raimi, make for a resoundingly entertaining movie... even if you're not much of a baseball fan!

Perhaps the best thing going for the film is its truly innovative integration and balance of rapid-fire on-going game vs. Relationship development flashback elements, allowing the viewer to "get inside the athlete's head" in a way no other movie in recent memory does. FOR LOVE thusly manages to put a signature spin on the subjective experience of a great athlete's swan song by sharing and highlighting the stark contrast between the external precision and perfection of the real-world game in progress, and the turbulent, highly personal, inner-world of the passions that drive him.

Kevin Costner, certainly NOT the greatest actor in the world, literally shines in the mother of all tailor made roles. Kelly Preston shows us a highly focused intensity, in just what may be her best on screen appearance to date! John C. Reilly, although cast as the solid-as-a-rock-always-there-when-you-need-him-on-the-sidelines Catcher, plays to the hilt a supporting role, in every sense of the word.

There are moments in FOR LOVE however, that seem a touch too maudlin, trying just a little too hard to jerk that extra tear. A few of these melancholy scenes are drawn out to the point of making the viewer self-conscious and put upon. These occasional excesses are easily overlooked, however, in light of the films many strengths and its overall highly engrossing nature.

8*.....ENJOY! / DISFRUTELA!

Any comments, questions or observations, in English o en Español, are most welcome!