For the love of your sanity tale the walk on this one!

Rating: 4/10 (25 September 1999)

I saw the much awaited and ballyhooed FOR THE LOVE OF THE GAME starring Kevin Costner in his third baseball film. This time he is an aging veteran pitcher which should not be confused with the aging catcher that he portrayed in the superior BULL DURHAM or surely should not be confused with aging outfielder played by Robert Redford in the much superior THE NATURAL. I guess, like the character Costner played in the third baseball film, FIELD OF DREAMS, film makers believe that if it's baseball and Costner makes it "they will come." If they do it will be unfortunate. I admit I am a nut for baseball films. The before mentioned NATURAL, EIGHT MEN OUT and Ray Milland's golden oldie IT HAPPENS EVERY SPRING are among some of my favorites. I looked forward to this new one with eager anticipation and I was unfortunately greatly disappointed. A pitcher throwing a perfect game (retiring 27 batters without anyone getting on base) is a rare feat indeed. The premise of this film is that Costner late in his career, late in the season in a meaningless game to his cellar dwelling Detroit Tigers facing the Yankees about to clinch their pennant, he throws one. Preposterous you might well say? This is Hollywood do not forget and baseball is the stuff from which dreams come. I suppose that this premise is no more or less ridiculous than a man building a baseball diamond in an Iowa corn field to give the 1919 Chicago Black Sox a second try or a professor of chemistry discovering a chemical substance that makes a baseball avoid wood. So I was more than willing to suspend my disbelief that this could and as I knew, would indeed happen. What made the story unique, I thought prior to viewing it, was the fact that Costner relives in his mind, his life, while he is pitching the BIG game. I still believe that this premise could work. The problem with FOR THE LOVE OF THE GAME is Costner's life away from the diamond is a big drag. Kelly Preston as his on again-off again girl friend is the biggest problem. We simply don't give a damn about her. She is such a neurotic, little whining fool, we want her to just get on the plane to England and get out of the movie. Their relationship is stupid, terrible and we keep saying why would they want each other.
The baseball scenes are terrific, but hardly worth the seven bucks. I can only hope that Costner, like the aging baseball pitcher he plays, retires from making anymore baseball movies at least ones like FOR THE LOVE OF THE GAME.