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.

Billy Chapel (Kevin Costner) is a worn-out 40 year old former ace pitcher for The Detroit Tigers. He's given the start of last game of a disastrous season against the Yankees in NYC. The Yankees are looking to clinch the East with a win. Tigers' owner Gary Wheeler (Brian Cox) has just sold the team and the new owners want to trade Billy to the Giants. His best friend is his catcher Gus Sinski (John C. Reilly). His girlfriend Jane Aubrey (Kelly Preston) tells him that she is taking a job in London. He has the best game in awhile pitching a perfect game. The movie flashes back and forth from the present to his life courting Jane and reconnecting with his daughter Heather (Jena Malone).

The movie tries so hard with every baseball cliché. It doesn't add anything original that other Costner movies and The Natural doesn't already have put out. Every pitch is striving for sentimentality. The baseball stuff builds to a pretty compelling ninth inning. That's kind of what happens in a real baseball game. The bigger problem is that the romance is as bland as it gets. The romance lacks any bite or surprises. It's the least compelling thing in the movie. At least the baseball stuff works a little even if it is cliché.

Boy, is this a movie for New York Yankee haters. The lead character is a pitcher for the Detroit Tigers and played by Kevin Costner, guy who can play the game at a high level, not just some actor faking it. And, of course, his big pitching effort is against the mighty Yankees.

My only complaint, besides the overuse of the Lord's name in vain, is that there weren't more baseball scenes in it, since they were so well done. The best character of the film was the catcher, played by John C. Reilly. There's a big romance angle in here between Costner and Kelly Preston. Some of that was good, some was annoying. Neither of those characters was particularly appealing.

What was very cool, if you have a good surround system, was the sound of Costner's fastball hitting the catcher's mitt. The loud "whoosh" sound was awesome.