Predictable, but Liked It

Rating: 7/10 (14 August 2006)

I really liked Kelly Preston's role in this, it's the first time I've seen her perform. She played off Costner very naturally. She does wonderful things with her face. KC's character was less understated than usual, with a sensitive portrayal of emotion. The supporting cast was great, especially J. K. Simmons as the Tiger's manager. The flashbacks worked well as a plot device, and provided good character development.
In my opinion this was a better love story than a baseball story. The "Yankees" were boorrring (though not the stadium). They could have been written into the plot enough to make them real people. Somehow KC doesn't look like a pitcher to me, although he threw plenty of great pitches, and made some good plays. He was a little too buttoned down.
For overall thematic excellence, I'll take Field of Dreams (never seen Bull Durham) but for romantic spark, I'll take FLOTG. My favorite KC flick is "A Perfect World". DWW was OK too.