FOR LOVE OF THE GAME review

I love movies. BUT...

I love many other things as well. I love the Boy Scouts. I love High School Bands playing their hearts out. I love Autumn and cool breezes. I love a good meal... really good meals. I love it when music is in the air and you don’t really know where it’s coming from but you continue to walk and it just fits right.

I love motion, be it in the tops of trees or in a sway of a beautiful lady’s walk. The landscape passing by through my car window, out my airplane window, whilst riding horseback. I love the crackling of a fire and smell of flowers and a friend’s laughter.

I love a good book, an informing newspaper or magazine article, a rousing political or religious speech. I love poetry readings and fire twirling and sweaty hot turbulent clubs with an unrecorded band ripping it apart whilst shot glasses are raised and a good time is being had.

And... I love sports. Always have.

I love a way a football lands in my hands, the thrill of a great tackle. I love the crack of a bat... and more importantly I love that thrilling, violent vibration in your hands through the fiber of the wood as it shakes your whole being as you follow through and release the bat as you begin running for first base... That rush of adrenaline... and when you feel that gloriously dirty square bag beneath sole of your foot or the palm of your hand, and a glove hasn’t come down upon your shoulder with a bit of string wrapped in a blanket of skin with a bit of lace.... Well... It’s grand.

I love the smell of the leather of the glove, and the cloud of dust as you attempt to slide. Sliding spikes up to tell the bastard, ‘Get out of my way!’

I love sports... I watch them all the time, listen to talk radio and read the sports page. Though I also read the finance, lifestyle, cooking, classifieds, city/state, entertainment and the front page including the editorial section.... I do love my sports page and comics.

I take my sports movies very seriously. I mean, I remember as a kid watching PRIDE OF THE YANKEES and THE STRATTON STORY and literally being torn apart at my very soul. It hurt, but when things were going right... My... my my, the high of it. That thrill. I played football and baseball... Believe it or not as a kid (ages 7 through 11) I was on a swim team and won city meets. Curled up to the side of the pool ready to throw myself backwards and begin a windmill of arms flashing into the water as a furious frantic kicking powered me across the pool. I love competition.

And as a fat sideline pretzel fetished beer-swilling fan... I love watching the games. And I don’t watch to observe millionaire’s running around a diamond and catching the ball. I don’t play with the statistics or bet money on the spread. I don’t follow the trades or the scandals, I literally watch and listen and read merely for the love of the game. (no pun intended)

And that is why, when I heard the basic premise for FOR LOVE OF THE GAME, I was excited. Costner has made two wonderful baseball films thus far, FIELD OF DREAMS and BULL DURHAM.

But for me this film really hits me where I live. Because Baseball is just of the things that is going on here. This is a movie about ideals, passion, faith, love, companionship, family, teamwork and friendship. In a lot of ways it exhibits a lovely look at what a long career in the game must look like at the end of the run.

And for me, it was heartbreaking. We’ve all seen the ‘last’ games, fights, etc of various athletes through history. And here...

In this film I see for the first time in a really really long time a very completely human Kevin Costner. He plays his character of aging pro pitcher, Billy Chapel, as a regular guy. A fella that began playing by playing catch with his dad in the backyard. Short distances... then longer ones, then little league and so on.

He plays the character as a bit self-involved. He’s caring and wonderful and exactly what a lady would want for a man, until something goes wrong in his career and his... bachelor disease strikes and he forces everyone away from him.

This is something that really struck hard for me. When I had the accident that left me unable to use my legs for a period of time, I basically became very self-centered about what was happening to me. Other people’s problems really didn’t mean a whole hell of a lot... I couldn’t walk. That’s important.... Making an ‘F’ on an exam is like b.s. ya know? That’s why I buried myself into the site. I was doing everything I could to just keep my mind off the fact that everytime I tried to stand, I’d fall and need help to get up.

Over the years it’s been getting much better. But I tell ya, I really can’t wait till the motion of the bicycle machines at the World Gym feels right again. Right now I’ve been doing pretty good. But it takes everybit as much mental rehabilitation as it does physical. And when Costner has what happens to him... and what is at risk, what is at risk for him. I understand how powerful that is.

The key here in this movie is everything is perfectly within Costner’s range, and I think he creates my favorite Costner character yet.

The structure of the film as regards the laying out of the story is wonderful.

The film begins with a series of events befalling Costner that you just begin thinking, “Dude, it sucks being you.” I mean... the entire direction for the rest of his life is on his mind during this game. Where does he go... after this game. And he is just going through the motions... Pondering the moments and places of his life... left and right turns.

And folks it is beautiful.... for me. For everyone that looks at this film and can’t see Raimi at all... I disagree. Watch his scene transitions... they are wonderful. He uses not only the movement of the camera as a lead into the next cut, but the soundtrack as well.... What starts off as a baseball hurling sound, may infact turn into the sound of a jet engine from 3 years prior as Costner is recalling days long since passed.

Sure, I love the EVIL DEAD movies... passionately... But Raimi is really turning out some wonderful work here. I mean, A SIMPLE PLAN was a brilliant little crime film, this is a fantastic homage to love and baseball and life.... and next up is THE GIFT, written by Billy Bob Thornton... and I’ve heard it is a mystery/suspense sort of thing with a tad of supernatural thrown in for good measure... but it’s a serious film I believe. I’m not sure where Sam Raimi is right now... Has he sold out? I don’t believe so because he’s turning out some wonderful work.... I mean... can you really say Orson Welles sold out because he was forced to cast Charlton Heston as a Mexican in TOUCH OF EVIL? Or that Soderberg sold out by making a big studio film called OUT OF SIGHT? Nah... I can’t do that.

It’s just a different form of making art. Now... If we look at Raimi in 10 years and he’s always taking over other projects for other directors and writers and he’s never putting anything of himself... the guy who loves the Three Stooges... the man who ya know loves heavy duty gore and torturing his good friend Bruce Campbell... well... Ok, I might entertain the suggestion.

Actually what disturbs me most about Raimi right now is the way he seems to be apologizing for his early films. This really pisses me off to no end. I’ll put EVIL DEAD and EVIL DEAD II right up next to CITIZEN KANE at 2am and say.... “Which do ya wanna see? Deadites or Printing Presses?”

His early work is brilliant... and after talking to a couple of the producers that Raimi has had associations with in the past, I found that Raimi realizes that his stock as a filmmaker in Hollywood was next to nothing after THE QUICK AND THE DEAD. The film made no money and Sam was heartbroken. ARMY OF DARKNESS also didn’t perform that great. Now Sam’s got all the money in the world from XENA and HERCULES, but only a fool makes movies with his own money. And he knows he has to make some mainstream films to be able to get the magical projects he wants to make. On his development slate are films like ARABIAN NIGHTS. It’s there... but the script is having rewrite hell right now.

BUT... I’ll tell ya, I know Raimi is a huge Baseball fan. I’ve heard these stories. And folks... this movie is a Baseball fan’s dream of what the great ballplayers are.

Are they really like this? Idealistic, non-money-grubbing.... Not snorting line after line of coke, but while they are out on the mound... Every now again across home plate they envision their Dad saying, “Let’s just play catch... put the ball in the glove.”

God, I hope so. But the media’s focus on wages and trades and statistics take a lot of the thrill out of the crack of the bat. I don’t want to think of athletes being paid to play... I want to think of them as playing because this was their dream... not Mercedes and stretchable cheerleader lays.

MEANWHILE....

In addition, I didn’t loathe Kelly Preston. How did this happen. I always loathe her. I mean... ok, I thought she was incredibly fuckable in TWINS, but she has always been an annoyance to me in film. I just have always considered her.... a pair of boobs with a nice face, cause I’ve never bought any of her characters before this one.

I love her in this movie. As soon as I heard she was cast, I figured that the movie went out the window. It wasn’t salvageable. But... I was wrong. Raimi really cheats like all hell to force feelings for Preston. Silent scenes of chatting and smiles... A loving camera... A perfect song or track of score from Poledouris.... and wham... bam... I love her.

I believe her character in this one, and it just made me wonder how much better JACK FROST might have been had Raimi stayed on to direct the film. I mean... she was terrible in that film, but here she’s alive, living and vibrant. She has self-doubts and flaws. She isn’t just a pretty face with a glistening smile. She has quite a bit of pathos and it works for me.

Then you have her daughter played by young Jodie Foster from CONTACT, Jena Malone. What a sweet girl. There is a scene on the airplane between her and Costner that is just dead on for me.

Then there is John C Reilly... currently a pet fave supporting actor of mine. What a great supporting character here. Instantly likable... and I’m very interested to see where Reilly goes over the coming years. He has the beginnings of a great crossover character actor. And he’s been popping up all over the place. Great... I hope someone gives him a shot at a great lead role sometime... He’s got a mug like Wallace Beery and I’m curious to see a director really really push him in a movie. He’s capable of greatness.

Lastly, where does this rank for me in Costner run of BASEBALL flicks... 2nd, behind FIELD OF DREAMS for me, but above BULL DURHAM (a film I’m not very fond of). My three fave Baseball films are THE STRATTON STORY, PRIDE OF THE YANKEES and THE NATURAL (4th is BAD NEWS BEARS GOTO JAPAN... but it’s a childhood favorite)

I tell ya... Whatever Raimi does, I’m there. He’s really honing his skills as a storyteller and is becoming braver. It’s really funny in a way. I’m reminded of a talk I had with Tarantino during the last Tarantino Film Fest... as well an introduction he gave to JUNIOR BONNER.

After WILD BUNCH and STRAW DOGS and THE GETAWAY... folks were expecting a super violent film from the team up of Steve McQueen and Peckinpah. And instead... Peckinpah went in the exact opposite direction. To me... I’m curious as hell about ol Raimi. He’s making decisions I don’t think any of us really expected. And that is exciting as hell.

On top of that... he’s working... alot. It seems like he’s in the mood to make movies often... that’s a hell of a lot better than one every 3 or 4 years. So smile... it may be different... But do you really think Raimi isn’t going to club us over the head at his nearest chance?