Stars: Kevin Costner, Kelly Preston, John C. Reilly, Jena Malone, Brian Cox, Steve Lyons, Vin Scully, J.K. Simmons

Director: Sam Raimi

Summary: Billy Chapel is a baseball pitcher who is coming to the end of his career, he is forced to choose between the game he loves and his partner.

Director Sam Raimi follows up his 1998 hit A SIMPLE PLAN with a movie that completes Kevin Costner's unofficial trilogy of baseball films. Told almost entirely in flashback, the film concerns an already legendary 40-year-old pitcher, Billy Chapel (Costner), pitching the last game of his career that also marks the end of what has been, at best, a mediocre season. Going up against the Yankees, Billy remembers, while on the mound, his failed affair with the woman he still loves (Kelly Preston). As the game unfolds and it becomes apparent that he's on track to pitch a perfect game, Billy begins to wonder if he can win her back, and if his ailing arm can make it through nine innings.

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Billy Chapel (Kevin Costner) is having a bad day. His girlfriend Jane (Kelly Preston, stunning as ever) says she's leaving, and his boss (Brian Cox) says he's selling the business and ace employee Billy may be out of job. Sounds like business as usual for an old-fashioned veteran. However, the business is baseball and for Billy Chapel, the 40-year old former all-star for the Detroit Tigers, it means his career--and his life--is at a crossroads.

Although it is no Bull Durham, For Love of the Gamefinds a solid and very believable role for Costner. The film is based on Michael Shaara's (The Killer Angels) stream-of-consciousness novel (the rough manuscript was found after his death 1988). The entire film takes place on Billy's day on the mound against the Yankees, a meaningless late-season game for the Tigers, but everything for Billy. In flashbacks, he lingers over his long relationship with Jane and his baseball career (from World Series heroism to a career-threatening injury). His one viable link to the game at hand is his catcher, played winningly by John C. Reilly. Costner, like Chapel, is looking for one more great performance, but the film is too simplistic and loopy at times to resonate. The love story has an extra helping of cuteness, and legendary baseball announcer Vin Scully nearly takes on a leading role, waxing grandiloquent. It's no grand slam, but a solid double. --Doug Thomas, Amazon.com

Aspect Ratio:	2.35 Wide Screen
Main Language:	English
Region:	Region 2
Special Features:	Cast And Filmmakers Notes, Deleted Scenes, Menu Music, Production Notes, Theatrical Trailer, Weblink, Trivia Game
Subtitles:	Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, German, Greek, Hebrew, Norwegian, Polish, Swedish
Year:	1999
Release Date:	September 8, 2003
Runtime:	132 minutes
Certification:
Catalogue Number:	078 192 2
Keywords:	Love, Game, General, Wide, Screen, Drama
Genre:	Drama