For Love of the Game (1999)
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An aging baseball pitcher reflects on a past romance while attempting to throw a perfect game in his final outing.
The story
The Detroit Tigers travel to New York for a season-ending series against the Yankees. Having been eliminated from playoff contention, the team plays for pride against a Yankees squad looking to clinch the American League East. 40-year-old pitcher Billy Chapel prepares for his final start of the year while dealing with personal turmoil: his girlfriend Jane is leaving for a job in London, and the team's owner informs him he is being traded. As Billy takes the mound at Yankee Stadium, he reflects on his long-term relationship with Jane to find the focus needed to overcome his physical pain and the pressure of the moment.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
The Detroit Tigers travel to New York for a season-ending series against the Yankees. While the Tigers are out of playoff contention, the Yankees are fighting for the American League East. Pitcher Billy Chapel, a 40-year-old veteran recovering from a hand injury, learns his 19-year tenure with the Tigers is ending due to a team sale and he is being traded to the San Francisco Giants. Simultaneously, his girlfriend Jane Aubrey informs him she is moving to London. During his final start at Yankee Stadium, Billy experiences flashbacks of his relationship with Jane while dominating the Yankees' batters. Despite intense shoulder pain and a manager's suggestion to use relief pitchers, Billy rallies to keep the perfect game bid alive. He eventually retires the final batter to complete the perfect game, inscribing a baseball for the owner with 'Tell them I'm through. For love of the game.' After the game, Billy realizes his career is over and weeps for the loss of baseball and Jane. The next morning, he finds Jane at the airport; she had missed her flight to watch his game, and the two reconcile.
- First release year
- 1999
- Runtime (minutes)
- 137
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Sam Raimi
- Writers
- Dana Stevens · screenplay
- Cast and characters
- Kevin Costner · Billy Chapel; Kelly Preston · Jane Aubrey; John C. Reilly · Gus Sinski; Jena Malone · Heather; Brian Cox · Gary Wheeler; JK Simmons · Frank Perry; Joe Lisi · Pete; Vin Scully · Vin Scully; Steve Lyons · Steve Lyons; Bob Sheppard · Bob Sheppard
- Genres
- sports drama
- Themes
- Sacrifice; Memory; Love; Legacy
- Tone and mood
- Melancholic; Dramatic
- Premise and plot tags
- Sports; Romance; Drama
- Source material / true-story basis
- Michael Shaara's 1991 novel
- Reception
- The film received mixed reviews from critics and was a box office bomb, grossing $46.1 million against a $50 million production budget.
- Awards and nominations
- Golden Raspberry Award · Worst Actor · Nomination
- Production trivia
- The actor playing Billy Chapel as a child in the opening credits is also Costner; the footage is actually old home movies of Costner and his father.; The pitching coach who prepared Costner for this role was Mike Buddie, a former middle reliever for the Yankees and Milwaukee Brewers.; J. K. Simmons later joked about the fact that he was only nine days older than Costner, despite being cast as a 63-year-old.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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