1999 was a big year for movies. It was the year that The Matrix‘s slow-motion bullet influenced action movies for years to come. It was the year American Beauty won Best Picture at the Academy Awards and Oscar fans have been arguing about it ever since. It was the year Pokémon jumped from Gameboys and TV to the big screen. And worst of all, it was the year that disappointed a generation of Star Wars fans with the release of The Phantom Menace.
To celebrate that landmark year in film’s 20th Anniversary, The Pop Break continues its year-long retrospective of 1999’s most influential (at least to us) films with writer, Daryn Kirscht, on Kevin Costner’s other baseball film, For Love of the Game.
When most people think of a Kevin Costner sports movie, specifically a baseball one, they will probably think of the legendary 1989 film, Field of Dreams, or the comedy classic from the year prior, Bull Durham. However, the film I think of neither of these two—that’s part of the fun of seeing Costner acting in so many sports movies over the years. Now, celebrating its 20-year anniversary, Universal Pictures’ For Love of the Game is the best Costner sports movie you have likely never heard of.
It is a sports romance drama that centers around Detroit Tigers pitching legend, Billy Chapel (Kevin Costner), in his 19th and potentially final season of his illustrious career on the mound. He has loved the game of baseball for so long that he doesn’t think he can ever let it go, but he is faced between sticking with the game he claims he cannot live without and the woman, Jane Aubrey (Kelly Preston), he has discovered he cannot live without.
It is definitely strange to think that a baseball movie directed by Sam Raimi (Spider-Man), starring Kevin Costner (Field of Dreams), J.K. Simmons (Whiplash), John C. Reilly (Step Brothers), Jena Malone (The Hunger Games: Catching Fire), and Preston (Jerry Maguire), would fly past the radar gun unnoticed.
One of the film’s fun aspects is how real it truly feels. Real-life Yankee Stadium is the location for the game and the voice that has personified baseball history, Vin Scully, calls the game and has a few unforgettable quotes, such as: “The cathedral that is Yankee Stadium belongs to a Chapel.” There is even an appearance by the infamous Steve “Moon Man” Lyons, who also made an appearance in Major League II. Add to the equation that all of the umpires in the film were real-life umpires and Costner convinced weary New York Yankees owner, George Steinbrenner, to use Yankee Stadium in the movie (even though the Yankees wouldn’t be winning in the film, later being awarded an actual 1999 World Series ring) and suddenly, this film has a pulsing heartbeat in reality.
Furthermore, I find some of the smaller, more unique tidbits within the film fascinating—even the bizarre reports of Costner being upset that Universal Pictures cut his full-frontal shower scene. Did you know that Chapel’s parents in the stands are actually Costner’s real-life parents? There is also a moment in which Chapel is on an airplane and there is a book sitting next to him titled The Killing Angels by Michael Shaara, who also wrote the novel on which this film is based under the same name (screenplay by Dana Stevens). Even the character of Jane Aubrey, portrayed by Preston, is a play on Jane Austen: there is a moment in the film in which Chapel is reading an article by Aubrey entitled, “Sense and Sensibilities,” a reference to one of Austen’s most famous novels.
What I find even more fascinating is not even Costner actually performing all of his pitching scenes, but the dialogue references to other films involving the actors in the film. Chapel says “Think Billy, don’t just throw,” which is the opposite of the statement that Costner’s character from Bull Durham, Crash Davis, says in that film: “Don’t think. Just throw.” Later, after the big game, Chapel brings a drunk Gus (John C. Reilly) to his hotel room, in which Gus says to him: “You’re the cream in my coffee.” That line is a direct reference to Costner’s JFK, in which a woman approaches Costner’s character asking him if he remembers serenading her at a party, to which he responds: “Oh right, we sang ‘You’re the cream in my coffee’.”
The aspect of the film that works best for me is the tone and feel. Giving the film a heartfelt, dramatic tone rather than a lighter comedy or adventure makes for a more unique, yet realistic experience considering the majority of baseball films from the era–Major League, Field of Dreams, Bull Durham, Little Big League, Rookie of the Year, and The Sandlot — were not to be taken too seriously. Despite the majority of those films being classics and a lot of fun to watch, it is nice to mix it up with a different kind of baseball movie that is not a biopic.
I understand that critics were not too keen on the film. The overall consensus was that, although critics did enjoy the actual baseball scenes, the flashbacks and romance did not work for them. I do not think For Love of the Game is a perfect film. In fact, I believe a director’s cut (especially adding in deleted scenes involving J.K. Simmons’ character, Frank Perry, the Tigers’ manager) would add to the film’s story and emotional effect, but I think this film ages better with time. As for the critique on the romance, after a recent viewing, I can understand a few moments here or there in which it feels a little cliché, but the sharp, upbeat dialogue between Preson and Costner add some needed levity that works as well as Chapel’s curve ball. One thing I completely disagree with is the musical score. Basil Poledouris did an incredible job with the music, especially in the film’s biggest moments (Track 9, “The Decision”), and deserves recognition.
The amount of talent in front of the camera and behind it would lead many to believe that it should have surely knocked it out of the park. Okay, so it might not have been a grand slam, but instead a solid ground-rule double that drove in a run or two. Between the younger versions of household names in the industry and the running themes of hanging onto former glory and moving forward to the future (especially considering the year the film came out), Raimi and Costner sprinkle charm on the film. Even for those that are not big sports fans, there is a story beneath it that should make for (at worst) a decent viewing experience, if not one for the ages.
