A Gamely Crafted, No-Frills Hit!

Rating: 8/10 (1 August 2016)

.......................................................from Pasto,Colombia...Via: L.A. CA., CALI, COLOMBIA and ORLANDO, FL
"They don't make 'em like they used to!" As regards "For Love of the Game", the above comment applies to both movies and baseball players! Old- fashioned, straight-ahead storytelling, complimented by solid performances, extremely convincing on-the-field action, excellent photography and more than competent direction by Sam Raimi, make for a resoundingly entertaining movie...even if you're not much of a baseball fan!
Perhaps the best thing going for the film is its truly innovative integration and balance of rapid- fire on-going game vs. relationship development flashback elements, allowing the viewer to "get inside the athlete's head" in a way no other movie in recent memory does. "For Love" thusly manages to put a signature spin on the subjective experience of a great athlete's swan song by sharing and highlighting the stark contrast between the external precision and perfection of the real-world game in progress, and the turbulent, highly personal, inner-world of the passions that drive him. .......................................................from Pasto,Colombia...Via: L.A. CA., CALI, COLOMBIA and ORLANDO, FL
Kevin Costner, certainly NOT the greatest actor in the world, literally shines in the mother of all tailor made roles. Kelly Preston shows us a highly focused intensity, in just what may be her best on screen appearance to date! John C. Reilly, although cast as the solid-as-a-rock-always- there- when-you-need-him-on-the-sidelines Catcher, plays to the hilt a supporting role, in every sense of the word.
There are moments in "For Love", however, that seem a touch too maudlin, trying just a little too hard to jerk that extra tear. A few of these melancholy scenes are drawn out to the point of making the viewer self- conscious and put upon. These occasional excesses are easily overlooked, however, in light of the films many strengths and its overall highly engrossing nature.
8*.....ENJOY/DISFRUTELA!