Wonderful picture!

Rating: Null/10 (1 September 1999)

This is a wonderful wonderful romantic comedy/drama that will please both men and women. It is well-observed, well-written, well-directed and well-acted. It's the best I've seen Kevin Costner in recent memory, and Kelly Preston is just excellent. These are not walk-throughs: both Costner and Preston under Raimi's direction are thoughtful and real, and a pleasure to watch.
The writing is clear-minded and witty, but always observant proceding from the characters and their mien and the situations in life they've been cast in and never steps out to be wise-upon-itself independently of the film. My kind of writing.
Men are going to like this film because it digs into some aspects of the sport and the relationship that a pitcher has with the batters in a touching way that is seldom addressed in motion pictures, showing a true competitive spirit. Unfortunately, the theatrical trailer doesn't quite sell this point right, but that would be very hard to do in a 3 minute period.
Women are going to like this film simply because it is a very 'real-like' 'real-life' type of romance. And it shows men for what men would really like to be: not just romantic about their women, but in love with a part life that allows us to be what we really want to be, and to be loved and admired and respected by our women for that special affection that we have for another part of life.
This is a "movie" movie, and I would like to see more like it. Kudos to the filmmakers and the cast, I hope to see you at oscar-time.