For Love of the Game

Kevin Costner's third baseball-as-an-emotional-metaphor movie, For Love of the Game is almost wall-to-wall, unapologetic sentimental manipulation. But it's also a maddeningly absorbing story of a retiring major league pitcher who spends his final afternoon on the mound throwing a stirring no-hitter while reflecting (in flashback) on his legendary career and his recently-soured relationship with the love of his life (Kelly Preston). Full of spirit--but also uneven, self-indulgent and occasionally slow--each time the film starts to derail, director Sam Raimi puts you back in the baseball diamond and makes you want to cheer for the hero as he overcomes emotional baggage, exhaustion and a numbing arm to throw one more scorcher past a bewildered New York Yankee slugger. An old-fashioned movie for our acidic modern world, this is a strong optional purchase. (R. Blackwelder)