easily the worst film Sam Raimi has directed yet

Rating: 4/10 (23 April 2006)

I remember seeing For Love of the Game in the theater and thinking 'this isn't the same Sam Raimi that directed the Evil Dead trilogy and A Simple Plan, is just can't be.' It's one thing that it's a Kevin Costner movie, which in and of itself carries a certain formula that can take down director and ship with him. Maybe there might be some even die-hard baseball movie fans out there (baseball itself is cool, the movies from that can either hit or really miss) who might appreciate this film, but as that and as a romantic melodrama it's just, well, a shamble of formula, over-sentimentality, and over-wrought dialog. Some of the supporting acting isn't too terrible, as John C. Reilly and JK Simmons are usually hard to disappoint. But it's practically humorless, and (this is a bit subjective here) can be somewhat incredulous against Yankees fans. The premise itself could've worked- aging baseball pitcher does a perfect game while his romantic life has a checkered past. But Raimi isn't able to breathe that much life into the script, and the Hollywood feel of it just adds to its, well, blandness. It's not one of the worst movies of 1999, but it's a definite yes that I would not only not recommend it, but would steer clear of it if it came on TV again. Maybe as a piece of fluff it might just be a below satisfactory effort, but from Raimi it's emanates from me a big "huh?"