A pair of whacked-out cartoon-like exterminator/hitmen kill the owner of a burglar-alarm company, and stalk the partner who hired them, his wife, and a nerd framed for the murder, who tells the story in flashback from the electric chair.
Detroit Tigers Veteran Pitcher Billy Chapel (Costner) has always been better at baseball than at love. Just ask Jane (Preston), his on-and-off girlfriend. After a bad season, just before he is about to start in what could be his final game, Jane tells Billy that she's leaving him...for good. Now with his career and love-life in balance, Billy battles against his emotional and physical limits as he strives for a Perfect Game. The suspense is never drawn back in this heartwarming drama about life, love, and risking it all For Love of the Game. Written by
The scene in which the ball bounces off of Mickey Hart's head is based on the famous incident in which the same thing happened to Texas Rangers outfielder Jose Canseco. Afterward, when Billy and Mickey are talking in the clubhouse, Mickey jokes "It'll probably end up on ESPN." In fact, Canseco's incident became blooper reel fodder for ESPN for the remainder of that year. See more »
At Boston's Fenway Park, a batted ball could not bounce off Mickey Hart's head upwards into the stands for a home run. Mickey plays Right Field for the Tigers, and Boston'd Right Field Stands are almost right at field level. The Right Field 'wall' is about waist level for most outfielders. See more »
All I've got is my toothbrush and a bathing suit I bought at the airport. You're not smiling. You're annoyed. I'm an idiot.
No, I'm an idiot. Jane, listen to me. No matter what happens in the next five minutes l want you to know that when I opened this door l was so happy to see you that my heart leapt. It leapt in my chest.
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I would have to say that I have seen very few movies better than For Love of the Game. My favorite genre is Romantic Comedy. This wasn't a comedy, but it was feel good. It was light drama and it was extremely well done.
Costner portrayed an aging baseball player with a romantic attachment to the game that reminded me of Robert Redford in The Natural - another movie I rated a 9. The symbolism of the movie was the notion of ending a romance for the game and transferring that romance to a woman. For him, at least, there was room for only one at a time. And, fortunately for her, his career was at the very end. Fortunately for us, we got to see his last game interspersed with flashbacks.
The movie was brilliantly done with respect to the actual game of baseball. I cannot recall having seen a sports movie that did such an excellent job of maintaining accuracy about the game. I honestly could have believed I was watching an actual game. The plays were realistic. The situations realistic. And, Vin Scully was sensational doing the play by play.
I've only rated a few movies as 10's in my life. One of them was Field of Dreams - another Costner vehicle. This movie wasn't far behind FOD. In fact, it was nearly as magical and it was a lot more romantic. Why the reviewers of IMDB only give it a 6.7 is beyond me.
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