Superb acting by Costner and Preston. Great Baseball film.

Rating: 10/10 (23 July 2006)

Most people are aware that Kevin Costner is an avid baseball fan, as he has made four movies where he was either a rabid fan, active or retired player.
He understands baseball and must have been a fairly good amateur player himself, as his movements on the field are realistic, so his baseball movies are believable even without dissecting the plots.
In For Love of the game however, the underlying love story between Billy Chapel and Jane Aubry (Costner and Preston), enhances, but does not overshadow the baseball theme. In fact, without the love story, the film might be a flat, plot less story.
Some critics say the plot and particularly the ending, where we all know Chapel will pitch a perfect game, detracts from or imparts an artificiality to the film. But I would refer those critics to the 1984 film, The Natural, with Robert Redford. That film was predictable, yet its predictability was the stuff of Saturday morning matinées at the movies, where the good guy in the white hate defeated the bad guy. Same with For Love of the Game. Its predictability, which actually only becomes apparent near the middle of the last game, adds to the overall effect of the film.
Costner is superb, not only as a ball player, but as a man who is obviously falling in love with something other than baseball, for the first time in his life.
The best surprise of all is Kelly Preston. This is, by far, her best performance. She is totally believable as a vulnerable, insecure single mother, who is afraid of having her heart broken as a sports groupie.
As an avid baseball fan, I loved this film for its reality in depicting an aging baseball player's plight. But as a guy who isn't into "chick flicks" I have to admit that I was swept away by the love story.
I loved it, even though I am a die hard Yankee fan!