For the Love of the Game (DVD)

*** Synopsis *** Billy Chapel (Kevin Costner) is a baseball legend who after playing for the same club all his life is forced to choose between retiring or transferring to another lesser club. With this in mind he starts to reminisce over all the ups and downs of his life whilst playing professional baseball, including the woman he loves, Jane (Kelly Preston), who is leaving for London. As he goes out to pitch in what could possibly be his last game, he carries on evaluating and reminiscing. But as the game goes on, it becomes apparent that he may be about to pitch a perfect game. Does he pitch the perfect game, does he retire or transfer and does he ...  Read the complete review

This film took me completely by surprise. I sat down to watch it expecting some epic sporting drama, and it gave me a pleasant surprise. Sure, the film is set around a baseball game but, there is very little baseball in it. The bulk of the film is about Kevin Costner's characters journey through life, from the day he meets his girlfriend, portrayed by the gorgeous Kelly Preston, through the last few years of his career as a major league pitcher, to his final game as he tries to pitch a no-hitter (for those with little baseball knowledge it is similar to a goalkeeper saving all the penalties in a shoot-out, or a cricket bowler getting a hat_trick). The film ...  Read the complete review

Getting ready to watch a Kevin Costner movie is like preparing for a siege: one needs to stock up on a hefty assortment of supplies because, if there is one thing we can be sure of, it's that we are in for a very long haul. Actually, as Costner films go, this 138-minute film is relatively short - though its glacial pacing makes it seem eternal anyway. For sheer, unadulterated tedium, this film is, at the very least, a match for Costner's previous romantic opus, "Message in a Bottle." Directed by Sam Raimi, "For Love of the Game" seems like a film caught in a movie genre limbo. Half reverential baseball movie and half sappy romance, it ...  Read the complete review

I watched this movie during a long-haul flight to the Far East in early February this year. I think this is one of those movies which probably won't leave much of a lasting impression after you've watched it. In short - probably you can watch this if you have run out of movies, but I wouldn't rate it as special. The story is about Billy Chapel (Kevin Costner), a Detroit Tigers pitcher who is nearing the end of his career after 19 years with the team. The film revolves around his final game - which he pitched marvellously and almost had a perfect game going . During the game his thoughts flashed back to his life - and here we see his past glamour, his ...  Read the complete review

I had to wait ages to see this movie as it was released nearly nine months later than in the States.Now it does depend on how much you love baseball, but for those of us that do it was great.During the game scenes if you closed your eyes you could believe that you were in Yankee stadium the atmosphere was captured brilliantly.Kevin Costner gave a great performance as Billy Chapel his understanding of the game and his ability to really pitch gave the movie excellent authenticity. The only critiscim i would make about this movie is that the romantic relationship between Kevin Costner and Kelly Preston never seemed to quite work.It was as if they were holding each ...  Read the complete review