Game called on account of pain.

Rating: 3/10 (6 April 2003)

The viewer's pain, that is. This hybrid of chick-flick romance and male sports weepie is the epitome of formulaic Hollywood movie-making, a film made solely to generate box office receipts by appealing to the most bathetic elements in these genres. The plot and writing are so predictable that there were several occasion when I was able to say an actor's next line out loud before s/he did and hit it right on. Kelly Preston and Kevin Costner are well matched in that both are mediocre actors on their very best days; the wonderfully wooden Costner received yet another Razzie nomination for Worst Actor of the Year. At least he looks like a ballplayer, having played at the University of Southern California, a traditional collegiate baseball powerhouse. This also probably has much to do with his predilection for making baseball movies.
There were several highly unrealistic aspects in this film. Costner insists that his regular catcher, played by John C. Reilly, start the game, but then he continually shakes off his pitch calls. This is not the sign of a battery that is in sync. Kelly Preston's character makes a reference to "when the Tigers and Yankees play in the series." Certainly not the World Series, since both teams are in the American League. Yet she hardly seems to know enough about major league baseball to be referring to a league championship series. The Yankees manager sends to the plate a rookie without a single major league at bat as the potentially final out to break up a perfect game? Puhleeze! The ridiculous hand injury & hospital scene has already been noted by a previous commenter.
The film did feature the wonderful Brian Cox, a highly talented but criminally underutilized actor who deserves to be in far better films than this one. And also Vin Scully, the best play-by-play baseball announcer in the country, bar none. I had frequent opportunity to listen to his broadcasts of Los Angeles Dodgers' games when I was growing up, and he's still the best. These two are the only bright points in an otherwise thoroughly dismal film that drags on for well over two hours. And throughout it all, Sam Raimi was at the helm?! What was he thinking?! I have to believe that he made the same mistake David Lynch did with "Dune" (1984) -- he made the movie the way the producers wanted it made. After "Dune", Lynch swore he would never concede artistic control over a film again. Let's hope Raimi has similarly learned his lesson. "For Love of the Game" is definitely the low point in Raimi's directorial career.
As a sports movie, this one never really takes the bat off its shoulder as it goes down on called strikes. On the other hand, the gooey romance that constitutes half the film may lend it some redeeming utility as a date movie for those who are tired of only getting to first or second base and want to finally hit a home run. Rating: 3/10.