43
Metascore
31 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 75Portland OregonianDiana Abu-JaberPortland OregonianDiana Abu-JaberMore of a bunt than a home run.
- 70Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranLos Angeles TimesKenneth TuranThose who have even a small soft spot for baseball's soothing rhythms will be hard-pressed to resist it.
- 50Christian Science MonitorDavid SterrittChristian Science MonitorDavid SterrittThis sentimental drama is wildly uneven as it switches between ballpark scenes, which are very involving, and romantic episodes, which are badly overplayed.
- 50L.A. WeeklyPaul MalcolmL.A. WeeklyPaul MalcolmThe film's larger, surprisingly mature emotional rhythms are strong enough to pull it through.
- 50Entertainment WeeklyLisa SchwarzbaumEntertainment WeeklyLisa SchwarzbaumCostner's determination to avoid change keeps this baseball movie at a low line drive when it might have knocked one into the bleachers.
- 50TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonaghTV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonaghThe weighty themes of loss, regret and abdication of personal responsibility are undermined by the reverential use of baseball as a symbol of mankind's potential for selfless greatness.
- 50Miami HeraldRene RodriguezMiami HeraldRene RodriguezThe real love affair in For Love of the Game is between Costner and himself.
- 40Film.comSean MeansFilm.comSean MeansCostner's serious-as-a-heart-attack performance...slowly kills the movie's energy in a gooey morass of forced sincerity.
- 30Chicago ReaderJonathan RosenbaumChicago ReaderJonathan RosenbaumFor 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.
- 30Washington PostStephen HunterWashington PostStephen HunterThe baseball half of the story just slightly works. ... Nothing in [the other] half of the film works.