Another Recent Disappointment From Kevin Costner

Rating: Null/10 (24 November 2000)

Kevin Costner's streak of poor movies continues with this disappointing baseball film about a veteran pitcher for the Detroit Tigers and what could be his last game as a pro. The Tigers are out of contention, the owner is going to sell the franchise, and Costner will likely be traded after the season. Now they are in New York trying to beat the Yankees and Costner is trying to give one last glimpse of days past to himself and baseball fans. He is pitching a perfect game and as he does so he thinks back to everything that has happened since he met the one true love of his life (Kelly Preston). As the game progresses, more memories come to Costner and he realizes that as much as he loves baseball, he loves Preston even more. "For Love of the Game" is a movie that wants to be good, but falls due to movie cliches. Many times the flashbacks are more distracting than anything else. Costner and Preston are the only two performers who really have substantial parts. They both do pretty well, but the direction is never quite clear. The screenplay was going for something like "Field of Dreams", but ends up playing more like a sub-par baseball film from the 1940s or 1950s. Overall a film that is only fair at best. 2.5 out of 5 stars.