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Baseball movie catcher11/23/2023 ![]() He is certainly growing by leaps and bounds as a storyteller, and his latest film, FOR LOVE OF THE GAME, is another surprise for those of us who are fans. With last holiday's bleak A SIMPLE PLAN, Raimi gave up his EVIL DEAD past and churned out the most satisfying dramatic thriller of last year. Sam Raimi is one of my favorite directors, a real talent with visual ingenuity and a penchant for silliness. Shocking!!!įor Love Of The Game Maybe I'm looking at this film through rose colored glasses. This complex, poignant movie is actually quite subversive, since it forces you to realize that baseball is a thinking man's game and that athletes (and their working class fans) are not nearly as stupid as the real simpletons who write for the NEW YORKER. But athletes should be jolly, ape like simpletons, the kind who know their place. I remember one frightfully cultured fellow at the NEW YORKER sniffing that Costner's character is "arrogant." Note well that if an artist or an intellectual is cold and demanding, it's okay. Just the way Chapel's team mates set him up for the perfect game! This movie wasn't that well received by the critics. They really set Costner up for an unusually mature, disciplined performance. Reilly as the catcher, Kelly Preston as the girl friend, and Jena Malone as the girl friend's adorable teenage daughter - are very much the stars. It's no exaggeration to say that the supporting cast in this film - John C. But he always surrounds himself with people who are strong enough to challenge him and help him stay grounded. ![]() In the romantic drama, Kevin Costner does much more than play the usual Costner "nice guy." Billy Chapel can be cold, egocentric, and difficult - just like any other creative artist. ![]() At the same time, not all the action is on the baseball diamond. The only reason that pitching the perfect game matters to him is purely for the perfection of his art - for the love of the game. Kevin Costner's character, Billy Chapel, is not a "sports underdog." It's very clear he is a great athlete who has had a great career, and that he can walk away at any time with lots of money and lots of respect. But what I loved most about this movie is that there are no clichés. It therefore combines the tension of a thriller with the poignant emotions of an elegy. Part of it is the tight, real-time structure - the whole movie takes place in a man's head while he pitches a perfect baseball game on the mound. Yet this movie just captivates me every time I watch it. "From now on, I rag no one.Why do I love this movie so much? I'm not a baseball fan. A good little sports film that will make you cry a little and give you lines that you never forget. "Not a bad ballplayer, either once people got off his back and let him play." Great performance by De Niro. Just the way the players, especially Moriarty, talk, is so authentic. Even though I have actually had to explain the meaning of that line to one person, I love it. No, it sad, it makes you wanna laugh," for example. (Who would make such a speech?) There are lines in Bang the Drum, however that stand up over time. The whole "I believe Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone." monologue, for example is silly when really looked at hard. Many of Bull Durham's lines are ridiculous or unnecessary or unrealistic. I like Bang The Drum Slowly better than Durham. I have been a baseball fan all my life, I have played the game, and I have even been compared by one girl to Kevin Costner's character, Crash Davis, in Bull Durham.
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