For Love of the Game

I'm home sick today, and since I was in a movie watching mood, I took a long look at the four hundred or so DVDs that I own, but couldn't find anything interesting to watch. So, pop on the cable box and hop on Encore On Demand. I saw a few movies that I was interested in, but my dad had always said great things about For Love of the Game with Kevin Costner and Kelly Preston. Being a baseball fanatic, and a Kevin Costner hater (I know, he's been in two of the best baseball movies ever - Field of Dreams and Bull Durham) I wasn't sure if I wanted to sit through two hours of a terrible actor and a crappy scientologist making pretend.

Anyway, against my better judgment, I watched it.

I wasn't impressed, but I wasn't too terribly disappointed. I won't say it was anywhere NEAR as good as the Rookie, yet it was a decent movie. Maybe it was because I went in with such low expectations that I can say that I enjoyed it somewhat.

It is essentially a movie in which a 40 year old pitcher (Kevin Costner) is throwing what could be his last game in the big leagues, and learns that he's going to be traded after the season is over, by the Tiger's new owners. Then, about 4 hours before game time, he finds out that his quasi-girlfriend (Kelly Preston) is leaving him to take a job in London. Then, you see him start the game, and in between innings and pitches, he relives portions of his life, mostly centering around his relationship with Kelly Preston and her daughter, his rehab from an accident with a table saw, and the breakups and make-ups that have surrounded the last five years of his life.

I won't spoil it for the few that might actually want to see it, but check it out. It was a decent flick, if you don't mind the sappy music and occasional plot holes.