FOR LOVE OF THE GAME (1999). Why the gifted Sam Raimi succumbed to this simple-minded paean to fading superstar Kevin Costner is a head scratcher. Costner's aging fireball pitcher Billy Chapel, of the equally fading Detroit Tigers, is in town to pitch the last game of the season against the hated Yankees, and naturally he finds himself on the verge on throwing a perfect game. Every pitch is followed by a belabored flashback into his past, in which he lost the love of his life -- estranged girlfriend Jane (good sport Kelly Preston) -- because of his "love for the game" (i.e., he's a self-involved prick). Like Costner's other baseball films -- the crypto-fascist Field of Dreams and the overrated Bull Durham -- this is all insidious, self-aggrandizing fantasy. As for the outcome of the game, let's just say his no-hit streak continues.

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