For Love of the Game
Metascore
43 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 31 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 8 out of 31
  2. Mixed: 15 out of 31
  3. Negative: 8 out of 31
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  1. Chicago Sun-Times
    Reviewed by: Roger Ebert
    38
    It's the most lugubrious and soppy love story in many a moon, a step backward for director Sam Raimi after "A Simple Plan."
  2. New York Post
    Reviewed by: Rod Dreher
    38
    It's "The Postman" on a pitcher's mound.
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  3. Salon.com
    Reviewed by: Andrew O'Hehir
    30
    A dreary, humorless affair, with no real feeling for the rhythms of either baseball or love.
  4. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: J. Hoberman
    30
    Costner himself is the doggedly humorless heart and soul (and brains?) of this monumentally maudlin picture.
  5. Time
    Reviewed by: Richard Corliss
    30
    You will simply want to shoot yourself by the third inning.
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  6. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Stephen Hunter
    30
    The baseball half of the story just slightly works. ... Nothing in [the other] half of the film works.
  7. Chicago Reader
    Reviewed by: Jonathan Rosenbaum
    30
    For the first 100 minutes or so I found this hokey but serviceable; after that my watch became more meaningful than anything I could locate on-screen.
  8. Baltimore Sun
    Reviewed by: Ann Hornaday
    25
    This dialogue isn't helped by two actors who look terrific but can barely choke out a word that sounds remotely authentic or spontaneous.
    All this critic's reviews

User Reviews

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User Score
7.0 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 11 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 5
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 5
  3. Negative: 1 out of 5
  1. Tss5078
    6
    On the surface, this movie is a cheesy romance flick, but what makes it unique is it's backdrop. An aging pitcher, at the end of his career, looks back on how it all started, while in the middle of pitching what could be his final game. Along with the flashbacks of his baseball memories, come flashbacks of his romance, which are long and lame. The baseball part of it is what attracted me and is great. If this was strictly a sports movie, it would be 5 stars. The story of his career is much stronger than several other films dedicated to just the game. With this film you have to take the good with the bad. At times it seems like two entirely different movies and it really takes away from what is otherwise a great film.… Full Review »
  2. avatar16
    4
    Sam Raimi n'aurait pas dû quitter l'horreur et le fantastique pour se lancer dans un film romantique. Parce que là, le réalisateur se retrouve sans imagination. En effet, il nous livre un film du genre, tout ce qu'il y a de plus banal, avec surdose de bons sentiments et de musiques appuyées. Bon, ce n'est quand même pas désagréable à regarder, d'autant plus que les acteurs ne s'en sortent pas trop mal et que les passages de base-ball se montrent plutôt intéressants. Mais bon Dieu que c'est mou du genou! Et il n'y a rien qui empêche d'ennuyer le spectateur : histoire d'amour sans intérêt, dialogues qui semblent bâclés, montage en flashes-back dispensable... Sans compter une VF des plus loupées, les doubleurs se faisant rarement comprendre ni même entendre (cela marmonne trop!). Pour l'amour du jeu n'est qu'une pure guimauve hollywoodienne comme il en existe déjà tant. Et comme les autres, il vaut mieux l'oublier rapidement.… Full Review »
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