|
 "Kevin
Costner (Bull Durham, Field of Dreams) and baseball
movies go together like hot dogs and... well, baseball. They
work a magic to become something greater than their individual
parts. While some people feel Costner films should be avoided
like whatever they make hot dogs out of (am I stretching this
metaphor too thin?), there is no doubt that baseball makes them
both more acceptable to the palette.
In For Love
of the Game, Costner plays Billy Chapel, a forty year old
major league pitcher in the twilight of his career. During the
course of the final game of the season, he reflects on his life
and his career.
Listening to
Billy talk to himself as he stands on the pitcher's mound, the
audience hears his desperation and his confidence. From the inner
peace he finds to block out the distractions of Yankee Stadium
to his decision to brush a batter away from the plate.
But this isn't
just about one game, it's about Billy's career and his on-again/off-again
relationship with Jane Aubrey (Kelly Preston, Holy Man). It's
about beginnings and endings, coming together and coming apart.
It's about the best game of a career at the worst time of a life.
Billy has his
moments, but he also makes mistakes. Through it all, Costner
makes us believe it. Costner shows us Billy's desperate need
to find someone to share his victories with, but we also see
a darker side. He is capable of great passion, but also great
spite. We don't always love him, or understand his actions, but
he is utterly human.
With stunning
camera work and vision, director Sam Raimi turns Costner's duel
into a thing of beauty. Every pitch becomes a breathtaking moment.
The segues to Billy's past are seamless and never confusing.
Perhaps the best
thing that can be said about For the Love of the Game
is its devotion to baseball. Even in Billy's personal life, baseball
is ever present. This is a baseball movie dealing with the soul
of the game.
It's a film that
speaks to the heart and makes us cry. Not because it's hopelessly
romantic, but because it reminds us of our own endings. No matter
what they may be. At the twilight of summer, as the regular season
draws to a close, this movie reminds us why we love baseball."
Facing
a most important and crucial crossroads in his life, Costner
examines his past experiences all during the course of what many
believe to be his final game (at least for the Tigers). What
I find to be most encompassing about this movie is the use of
flashbacks while Costner seems to almost unknowingly reach for
one of his most shining accomplishments as both baseball player
and man. It is a very touching movie, well written and well made."
"The
Durham Bull Man is back for more great baseball! This is a great
mixture of a chick flick, and a sports movie. Any guy into baseball
will find the film very realistic, from KC clearing the crowd
from his head, to the rest of the team not talking to him during
the "Perfect Game". The flashbacks are well placed,
and well done. Not many movies take place in the span of a baseball
game, but cover 5 years of a man's life. I highly reccomend this
film to anyone in the mood for a great love story (and I don't
say that often), or a great baseball game."
|
