For Love of the Game (1999) – Encore Review

This a Covid-19 2020 minireview!

“Let’s get outta here before we get our asses kicked twice in one night.” – Frank Perry

Number of Times Seen – at least 5 times (31 Jan 2001 on DVD, 4 Jul 2013 and 16 Sep 2020)

Link to original review – Here

Brief Synopsis – A star baseball pitcher having the game of his life reminisces about the woman he loved and lost.

Bottom Line – Amazing film that is so fascinating to watch. Kevin Costner and Kelly Preston are superb here and they have such wonderful chemistry together here. The film uses flashbacks so effectively and allows us to get a clear idea of who each of these people are and what helped them reach the place whee they have reached. They do a wonderful job mixing together the romance aspects of the story with baseball and that enhances things so much. We get to see the way that baseball is a metaphor for his life and they manage to keep things so poignant throughout. As a baseball fall, this is such a great film to watch because it really takes the viewer into the ‘zone’. This was Costner’s third baseball film of his career and it’s so easy to see how much he is a fan of the sport himself based on how he plays this character. Recommended!

MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia – According to Kevin Costner, Yankees owner George Steinbrenner was becoming agitated that the Yankees would be seen losing in a movie filmed on location at Yankee Stadium. Costner said he was able to calm Steinbrenner down by explaining that Billy Chapel, and not necessarily the game itself, was the movie’s major focus. Costner also explained that the game would mean nothing to the Yankees, and that it wasn’t played as a “Winner Take All” scenario. Costner convinced Steinbrenner that in the movie’s universe, the Yankees would clinch the AL East division the next day, keeping alive their World Series chances. Costner said that he later received a Yankees 1999 World Series ring as a thank-you gift from Steinbrenner. (From IMDB)

Rating – Globe Worthy (8/10) (no change from original review)