Baseball in its purest state

Rating: 10/10 (20 September 1999)

It is not very often that a movie can have the tension and feel of game seven of the world series. For Love of the Game provides that tension. Caught in the crossroads of a brilliant career, Billy Chapel takes us on a 5 year journey through the course of a ball game. Not only a ball game, but perfection. A feat rarely achieved on any level. Luckily, GAME takes us on this journey with Billy. We feel his anguish as he gains, loses, gains, loses, gains, etc Jane. We also feel his anguish as he almost loses his career from a freak accident.

At the end, I found myself rooting for Billy to obtain perfection as I would at a real baseball game. Aside from his off the field struggles with Jane, we see his on the field struggles. Billy is not only battling the Yankees, but also the changing face of baseball. This epic battle of respect for the game and the brash, arrogance of youth is culminated in one last batter: the son of a former teammate of Billy's so long ago. Chapel has to exorcise the demons of the Yankees as well as the demons inside which make him contemplate retirement for love of the game.
For Love of the Game is one of the best baseball movies of all time. Whereas it does not even touch Bull Durham, or The Natural, it reaches new height with its style. An incredible movie that kept me riveted for the whole time. Are you sure it was 2 hours long? Seemed shorter...