For the love of a good movie, watch this one!

Rating: 8/10 (19 April 2012)

First of, let me say that I don't understand how most people rate a movie. Not that they are doing it wrong or anything like that - it's just that I seem to think different than most people on such things and this movie brings it out so perfectly. 6.2 avg rating? I rate it 8 to 8.5 at least. To my mind, it's in the same league as Casablanca. No, it doesn't have the same noirish feel, it isn't set in the background of a war (atleast not in the conventional sense) and it certainly isn't a life or death situation. And yet...
It's also not a movie with your typical cliché headline - no one will write phrases like "their life changes for ever" or "a coming of age story" etc. about this one.
What it is, to my mind, is story of one man, Billy Chapel, living in the limelight as it's fading and his war with time and with his own emotions. We all fight this war sometime (I'm on the wrong side of 40 myself); most times it's mainly in our heads with occasional interludes by people near & dear, but there's generally no audience (which is a good thing). If you happen to live in the limelight at such a time, you unfortunately have to fight on two fronts, a public one and a private one. This movie walks us through one such war and it's poignant and heart-warming mainly 'cause Kevin Costner plays it with such understated vulnerability that you root for the character even when he appears a bit clueless.
Not the world's greatest movie, no special effects, no nothing other than simple human emotions. But that holds up well thru the 2.5hrs making it a wonderful watch. What could be better than that? Of course the end of the game was a bit too theatrical, but hey! even the movie guys are human, right?