Big goose-egg

Rating: 3/10 (20 November 2000)

Pretty boring film that, like a pitcher wondering whether to throw to home or first on a suicide squeeze, suffers from a fatal case of indecisiveness. Is it a romance or a sports yarn? So it tries to do both, and fails. Too bad "The Lou Gehrig Story" was already done. Ostensibly about a pitcher trying to end his career with perfect game, it develops no excitement about this prospect up until the eighth inning. Before then, we get flashback after flashback, sometimes flashbacks within flashbacks, documenting what is, except for the celebrity of one of the participants, a pretty desultory romance.
Kevin Costner is quietly effective, though perhaps too quiet to wake up viewers lulled by the drony dialogue. Kelly Preston has a big vein on her forehead, and not much notable screen presence besides that. Even John C. Reilly is forced to spout some howlers ("We'll be awesome for you!") And Vin Scully! How did they make you utter a line like "A Chapel pitches a gem in the Cathedral of Baseball"? That wasn't thunder in the sky; it was the sound of Mel Allen groaning.