Average Rating: 6.2/10
Reviews Counted: 76
Fresh: 41 | Rotten: 35
Baseball wins, romance loses.
Average Rating: 6/10
Critic Reviews: 15
Fresh: 4 | Rotten: 11
Baseball wins, romance loses.
liked it
Average Rating: 3.3/5
User Ratings: 41,757
Based on the novel by Michael Shaara, For Love of the Game brought Kevin Costner back to the world of baseball after his successes with Bull Durham (1988) and Field of Dreams (1989). Billy Chapel (Kevin Costner) is a star pitcher with the Detroit Tigers, standing on the mound at Yankee Stadium and throwing what is shaping up to be a perfect game with the help of his best friend and catcher, Gus Osinski (John C. Reilly). However, Billy is having a hard time keeping his mind on the game; he's come
Sep 17, 1999 Wide
Aug 15, 2000
Universal Pictures
All Critics (76) | Top Critics (15) | Fresh (41) | Rotten (35) | DVD (15)
A perfect game in Yankee Stadium is no big deal these days; two have been pitched in the past 16 months. But a good baseball movie, that's hard.
For the first 100 minutes or so I found this hokey but serviceable; after that my watch became more meaningful than anything I could locate on-screen.
Thinking back through the movie, I cannot recall a single thing either character said that was worth hearing in its own right, apart from the requirements of the plot.
Costner is as uneven as the storytelling itself, stone cold at moments, shimmeringly real in others.
At two hours-plus, it doesn't just seem long, it sometimes feels like a double rain delay.
Those who have even a small soft spot for baseball's soothing rhythms will be hard-pressed to resist it.
Like Billy this movie is good on the field, but not so much once off it.
Memo to all involved: It's a game.
An old-fashioned Hollywood sports story/romance.
Costner and Preston's convincing work together go a long way in keeping the audience interested and involved.
For Love of the Game is painless, but it's also pompous and pious about baseball in a way that doesn't mean much to a non-fan like me.
[The] game stretches over most of the film, but any anticipated suspense is undercut by the sepia-tinted inserts charting the couple's bumpy uninvolving five-year romance from first meeting to acrimonious split(s)
Costner and company do a fine job getting you into the head of an aging sports idol at a pivotal moment in his life.
*For Love of the Game continually pushes its luck past the breaking point.
Like Chapel, Costner believes himself to be great, even when he's slowly getting worse.
While For Love of the Game has much to recommend it, particularly Costner's strong, understated performance, Raimi throws too many unnecessary curves.
Preston is forgettable as "this week's blonde," adding her name to a list of women wooed by this poster boy for the strong, silent type.
[Raimi's] involvement in this grating star vehicle is perhaps the most disappointing aspect of For the Love of the Game: the Evil Dead are, presumably, turning in their grave.
Costner baseball flick is great at motion, not so hot at emotion.
Instead of quitting while he's way ahead, Costner takes on For Love of the Game, a melodramatic film version of Michael Shaara's novel.
Billy Chapel must choose between the woman he loves and the game he lives for. Saw it again! Absolutely love this movie. Kevin Costner and Kelly Preston dazzle completely. The story is quite good and entertaining. Sports movies like this one I could watch every day.Baseball great Billy Chapel, 40, wants nothing more
April 16, 2008
Super Reviewer
Billy Chapel (Kevin Costner) is an aging major league pitcher for the Detroit Tigers. Billy does everything he can to be the best at the only thing he really cares about....baseball. However, Billy lucks up and finds a great woman named Jane (Kelly Preston). Will Billy find someone that he really really cares a lot
September 10, 2009Super Reviewer
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