1999, 2 hr 8 min. Rated PG-13 for brief strong language and some sexuality. Dir: Sam Raimi. Cast: Kevin Costner, Kelly Preston, Jena Malone.

I know ahead of time that in this type of film (sports and romantic) my emotions are being manipulated. And you know what? I don't care. I freely allow myself to be swept away in the director's care. As in my favorite sports movie, The Natural, I am being groomed for the finale, one that still gives me chills when I hear the score or see the baseball hit the lights, or even just think about it. I want that payoff; a bad ending is no option. And from the start, For Love of the Game leaves no doubt that it will end with a glorious triumph of the human spirit and unconditional love between man and woman.

Problem: the trip to that ending is almost as long as a nine-inning contest, and as exciting as a 3-1 game that involved all singles and each team committing two errors. Thus, the ending leaves me wanting to get to my car rather than watch the postgame fireworks.

PLOT: Billy Chapel is a future Hall of Fame pitcher who has spent 19 years as the hero of the Detroit Tigers, but now is faced with the decision of retiring or being traded. In the final game of the year--and possibly ever--Chapel attempts to cleanse the thoughts of lost love while tossing the best game of his career.

For Love of the Game doesn't inspire. Still the American pastime, baseball will always be the best form of instilling the viewer with a sense of history, a sense of awe at being in such a place as Yankee Stadium.

"The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It's been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt, and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game, is a part of our past, Ray. It reminds us of all that once was good, and that could be again." -- James Earl Jones, Field of Dreams

That quote shows what For Love of the Game is missing. In Dreams, baseball is revered as being a supernatural power, where you know Costner could go broke but you don't want his quest to end. But in Game the filmmakers show baseball as a hindrance, that if he retired when Costner and Preston met their lives would have been more fulfilling.

What I really enjoyed were the present-day baseball scenes. Costner's mumblings on the mound and thoughts fit exactly with how I picture a pitcher against a batter, a one-on-one struggle in a team game. I would have enjoyed the movie if it just showed this for two hours, instead of the dull love story.

Yes, I just said it was a dull love story. Why? Because there was little chemistry between Costner and Preston, and I was constantly angry with both characters. The film should have presented the five-year background story for a half-hour, then move on to the present.

Another positive with For Love of the Game is the use of real-life baseball announcers Vin Scully and Steve Lyons. Few can make a baseball game so poetic as Scully. For example, after the game Scully praises Billy Chapel's (Costner) performance with "The Cathedral of Yankee Stadium belongs to a Chapel." It's touching without being overly dramatic; the anti-Brent Musberger.

Now I must present another misstep by the filmmakers. I'm a Boston Red Sox fan; the scene supposedly in Boston is DEFINITELY NOT in Fenway Park: right field has a bullpen and is six feet lower than presented in Game.

In the end, my list of favorite baseball films stays intact: 1. The Natural, 2. Field of Dreams, 3. Bull Durham.