FOR LOVE OF THE GAME (M). (Universal/UIP) Director: Sam Raimi Stars: Kevin Costner, Kelly Preston, John C Reilly, Jena Malone, Brian Cox, J K Simmons, Carmine D Giovinazzo, Larry Joshua Running time: 137 minutes.
For the first time in a decade Kevin Costner returns to the baseball diamond. One would assume it's a sure-fire recipe for success as two of his better movies - Field Of Dreams and Bull Durham - have involved the sport of baseball. While he may not exactly hit a home run with his third time at the plate he doesn't strike out either!
For Love Of The Game is almost two movies in one as it mixes some exciting baseball action with the formula of the romantic drama. It's a mix that proves unexpectedly compelling for much of its length, but at over 130 minutes it loses momentum. You don't need a detailed knowledge of the intricacies of baseball to appreciate For Love Of the Game, but you do need a bit of patience to endure the long and eventually tedious flashback sequences tracing the romantic saga that occupies half of the film's running time.
For nearly twenty years pitcher Billy Chapel (Costner) has been the heart and soul of the Detroit Tigers. A horrific injury to his arm threatened to cut short his career, and he has only recently returned to the team. The long time owner is selling the team, citing corruption and the increasing corporatisation that is destroying the game as reasons for his departure. Part of the deal involves trading Chapel to arch rivals, the New York Yankees.
In possibly his final game in the sport to which he has virtually sacrificed everything, Chapel has to make a momentous decision - to quit while still on top or to continue with another team and possibly watch his career decline. Can Billy's ageing body and aching arm also stand up to the strain to allow him to pitch the perfect game and go out on a high?
The film unfolds in two strands - the defining baseball match, and a series of flashbacks charting the romance between Billy and Jane (Kelly Preston), a journalist who provided him with a perspective of a normal life outside the game. However, Billy's single minded determination to heal his wound and return to the game eventually created a rift in the relationship as Jane grew tired of coming second to his love of the game.
Costner gives one of his best performances for some time here, and projects the type of heroic brooding image with which he first established himself. He's more credible in roles like this than as the saviour of a post-apocalyptic world!
For Love Of The Game is an uncharacteristic film from Sam Raimi, a director better known for his gloriously apocryphylic horror movies (The Evil Dead, etc) and his flashy, comic book-like visual style. Raimi's direction here is unusually restrained. He manages to suffuse the narrative with plenty of suspense as he takes us inside Chapel's head for the strategy of this crucial game. Raimi manages to bring his usual visual flourishes to the film, and brings the baseball sequences alive. For Love Of The Game is quite manipulative, especially in its use of Basil Poledouris' evocative, occasionally stirring score.
Even those not normally fond of sports themed movies may find themselves sucked in by the suspense and the rich emotional undercurrents at play.
*** greg king http://www.netau.com.au/gregking
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