For Love of the Game (film)
4.8 /10 1 Votes
46% 43% Genre Drama, Romance, Sport Initial DVD release April 4, 2000 Language English | 6.5/10 1.5/4 Roger Ebert Duration | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Release date September 17, 1999 (1999-09-17) (United States) Cast (Billy Chapel), (Jane Aubrey), (Gus Sinski), (Heather Aubrey), David Mucci (Heckler)Similar movies Tagline Billy Chapel must choose between the woman he loves and the game he lives for. |
For love of the game official trailer 1 brian cox movie 1999 hd
For Love of the Game (sometimes misconstrued as For the Love of the Game) is a 1999 American sport drama film directed by Sam Raimi and written by Dana Stevens based on Michael Shaara's novel of the same title.
Contents
- For love of the game official trailer 1 brian cox movie 1999 hd
- For love of the game official trailer 2 brian cox movie 1999 hd
- Plot
- Cast
- Fact vs fiction
- Critical response
- Box office
- Accolades
- References
![For Love of the Game (film) movie scenes](https://alchetron.com/cdn/For-Love-of-the-Game-film-images-1fc65a61-76e2-4d09-8fb8-100e090c199.jpg)
The film follows the perfect game performance of an aging star baseball pitcher, Billy Chapel, as he deals with the pressures of pitching in Yankee Stadium in his final outing by calming himself with memories about a long term relationship with Jane Aubrey.
![For Love of the Game (film) movie scenes](https://alchetron.com/cdn/For-Love-of-the-Game-film-images-6e02078d-e636-4316-95ee-e2b4ca836b6.jpg)
The play-by-play of the game is announced by longtime Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers baseball broadcaster Vin Scully, who himself has called four perfect games in his career, and Steve Lyons.
![For Love of the Game (film) movie scenes](https://alchetron.com/cdn/For-Love-of-the-Game-film-images-2adc82bc-13d6-409d-9b18-09eaace0b24.jpg)
For love of the game official trailer 2 brian cox movie 1999 hd
Plot
![For Love of the Game (film) movie scenes](https://alchetron.com/cdn/For-Love-of-the-Game-film-images-f0e6f994-f030-4611-8397-66b1be9fcbc.jpg)
The Detroit Tigers travel to New York to play a season-ending series against the New York Yankees. At 63–97, the team has long since been eliminated from playoff contention and are playing for nothing but pride against the Yankees, who have a chance to clinch the American League East with a win. For 40-year-old pitcher Billy Chapel, however, this may end up being the most significant 24 hours of his life.
![For Love of the Game (film) movie scenes](https://alchetron.com/cdn/For-Love-of-the-Game-film-images-1444a1d1-b1b8-4d72-9a98-a8701be97c1.jpg)
In his Manhattan hotel suite, Billy awaits his girlfriend Jane Aubrey, but she doesn't show. Jane is also a single mother with a teenage daughter Heather that Billy got to know. The next morning, Billy is told by Tigers' owner Gary Wheeler that the team has been sold and that the new owners' first move will be to end Billy's 19-year tenure with the Tigers by trading him to the San Francisco Giants. Billy also learns from Jane that she is leaving that same day to accept a job offer in London.
![For Love of the Game (film) movie scenes](https://alchetron.com/cdn/For-Love-of-the-Game-film-images-9a5fe9d4-0e21-432d-a9d8-e2435eedb3b.jpg)
Billy is a famous, accomplished pitcher, but has a losing record this season, is near the end of his career and is also recovering from a hand injury. Wheeler hints that Billy should consider retiring rather than join another team. As he goes to Yankee Stadium to make his last start of the year, Billy begins reflecting about Jane, detailing how they met five years prior. These flashbacks are interspersed within the game, along with glimpses of Jane watching the game on a television at the airport.
![For Love of the Game (film) movie scenes](https://alchetron.com/cdn/For-Love-of-the-Game-film-images-83555aea-e128-436a-a892-9981427f1ec.jpg)
As the game progresses, with friend and catcher Gus Sinski aware that something is on Billy's mind other than baseball, Billy dominates the Yankees' batters, often talking to himself on how to pitch each one. While in the dugout resting between innings, Billy also reflects how his relationship with Jane was strained by his shutting her out of his life after he suffered a career-threatening injury in the off-season. The pain of pitching is getting worse as the game goes on.
Billy is so caught up in his thoughts that he does not realize he is pitching a perfect game until he looks at the scoreboard in the bottom of the eighth inning. Gus confirms that no one has reached base, and says that the whole team is rallying behind Billy to do whatever it takes to keep the perfect game bid alive. Billy's shoulder pain has become intense by this point, and after he throws his first two pitches of the inning well out of the strike zone, Tigers manager Frank Perry makes the call to warm up two relief pitchers in the bullpen. The count goes to 3–0 before Billy recalls pitching to his father (now deceased) in the back yard. He rallies and throws a strike, then gets the batter out on the next pitch.
Before the Tigers take the field for the bottom of the ninth inning, Billy has final ruminations about his career and his love for Jane. He autographs a baseball for Wheeler, who has been like a father to him for many years. Along with a signature at the end, Billy inscribes the ball with "Tell them I'm through. For love of the game."
After finishing the perfect game, Billy sits alone in his hotel room as the realization sinks in that everything he has been and done for the past 19 years is over. Despite his amazing accomplishment, Billy weeps not only for the loss of baseball, but for the other love of his life, Jane.
The next morning, Billy goes to the airport to inquire about a flight for London. Jane had missed her flight the night before so she could watch the end of his perfect game. Finding her there waiting for her plane, they embrace and reconcile.
Cast
The pitching coach who prepared Costner for this role was former New York Yankees/Milwaukee Brewers middle reliever, Mike Buddie. Buddie also had a small speaking role in the film as the character Jack Spellman.
The Yankees manager is played by Augie Garrido, former head coach of the University of Texas Longhorns. Garrido is the former head baseball coach of California State University Fullerton, which is Costner's alma mater.
Fact vs. fiction
Critical response
The film received mixed reviews from critics. For Love of the Game has a 46% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 93 reviews. In Roger Ebert's review, he gave the film 1 and a half stars out of 4 writing, "'For Love of the Game' is about the kinds of people who give the wrong answers. It's the most lugubrious and soppy love story in many a moon, a step backward for director Sam Raimi after A Simple Plan, and yet another movie in which Kevin Costner plays a character who has all the right window dressing but is neither juicy nor interesting."
Box office
The film opened at #2 with a weekend gross of $13,041,685 from 2,829 theaters for a per venue average of $7,023. Ultimately, For Love of the Game grossed only $35,188,640 domestically and an additional $10,924,000 overseas to a total of $46,112,640 worldwide. Based on an estimated $80 million budget, the film was a box office bomb.
Accolades
Costner earned a Golden Raspberry Award nomination as Worst Actor for his performance.
References
For Love of the Game (film) WikipediaFor Love of the Game (film) IMDbFor Love of the Game (film) Rotten TomatoesFor Love of the Game (film) Roger EbertFor Love of the Game (film) MetacriticFor Love of the Game (film) themoviedb.org