For Love of the Game

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Is there anybody else in Hollywood that can pull of playing a Hall of Fame worthy baseball player? Kevin Costner is known to be a fine baseball player and after "Bull Durham" and "Field of Dreams," Costner had made a name for himself in making baseball movies. He is an ambassador to the game and Costner has performed in some All Star games and taken part in other baseball ceremonies. In "For Love of the Game," Costner threw every pitch and fielded every ball seen in the film. He has always been a prototypical American movie star and when it comes to cowboys and baseball players, Kevin Costner is among the best. "For Love of the Game" completes the so-called "Baseball Trilogy" for Costner and his performance shows his love for the game and his ability as both an athlete and an actor.

Billy Chapel (Kevin Costner) is a pitcher destined for the Hall of Fame, but during his final game his entire life plays out in his head and he is oblivious to the fact that he is pitching a perfect game. Gary Wheeler (Brian Cox) has made Chapel aware that the Detroit Tigers are about to be sold and that the new owners will try to trade him. Having always been a Tiger and suffering from an injured hand, Chapel decides before the game that he will retire, but he doesn´t let anybody know until after the Seventh inning stretch. On Billy´s mind is not the strikeouts he is throwing against the New York Yankees in Yankee Stadium, but of a beautiful woman that he has loved for five years.

Jane Aubrey (Kelly Preston) has been in and out of Billy´s life, but she cannot fit into his baseball player lifestyle and she has moved on. She is at an airport and misses her plane when she sees Billy´s final game on television. She still loves Billy very much, but he has never told her that he loves her and has always been a boy and never transcended into the skin of man. Billy had pushed Jane away when he injured his hand, but he asked her to come to New York for the game and tried to win her back. As she watched Billy pitch his final game, her thoughts are of the time they spent together and her heart goes out to the man she had loved so strongly as he is doing what he loves the most for the last time.

Although he loved the game and was one of the greatest pitchers of his time, Billy knows his time has come. He has difficulty throwing pitches with the hand he injured while cutting wood. Baseball has been his life, but there was always a deep emptiness inside and Jane had filled that void. Jane and her daughter Heather (Jena Malone) were his family and now that he knows he is pitching his last game, his thoughts are only of the woman he loved and her daughter. Billy had demanded to his manager Frank Perry (JK Simmons) that his longtime friend and catcher Gus Sinksi (John C. Reilly) start in this game although Perry would rather have a younger catcher who can actually hit the ball play. Billy also must face another good friend and now rival, Davis Birch (Bill E. Rogers) in his final game.

I love "For the Love of the Game." I enjoyed "Field of Dreams" and "Bull Durham," but it is this third baseball movie that captures the emotions, drama and sacrifices made by professional ball players. Costner´s performance brings feeling to the aged and nearly washed up athlete. Airport bar patrons heckle him and ridicule him for having nothing left. However, when it is his time to say goodbye to the game he shows he still is an amazing player and pulls off a perfect game. He does this without thinking about it and only being filled with the passion he has for Jane. As the baseball game plays out and the romance between Jane and Billy is told, "For Love of the Game" succeeds as a baseball film, a romantic film and a story about anybody´s love for anything.

This is a film that was directed by the man responsible for the "Evil Dead" films and eventually the Spider-Man movies. Sam Raimi is a director that is now known for heartfelt films and he had not previously attempted a sports film. Raimi´s passion for filmmaking translates perfectly and mixes nicely with Costner´s own passion to make a perfect baseball movie. The film is non-linear in composition and it does take one or two extra viewings to completely keep your bearings while watching Billy´s perfect game unfold. I´ve always respected Sam Raimi and he has made some fine films, but there is a level of craftsmanship with "For the Love of the Game" that is not present in other films. This is the most heartfelt movie he has made to date and perhaps the best baseball film ever.

I´m sure I hold the film in higher regard than most others. I was a hockey goalie and didn´t have the opportunity to know when my last game was. I´ve thought about trying to play one more time to go out on my own terms and enjoy the game I loved so much for one more time. Pitchers and hockey goalies are a lot alike and have a lot of weight on their shoulders. I remember times when my own mind wandered and I thought about something other than the game. One game in particular ended in a shutout and I was as surprised as anybody else as I had just broken up with a long time girlfriend and played with a mix of hurt and anger that translated to a shutout. "For Love of the Game" reminds me of those times and it now reminds me of the feelings one has for playing a game they like so much. I knew in my last few games that my career was almost at an end. It is a hard feeling to describe, but Raimi and Costner nail it. "For Love of the Game" could be considered a romantic sports film, but it has more heart than the vast majority of sports movies made to date.

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