Sherif Hassan

I’m surprised it took me this long to see this film, Costner and sports are a good combination, big fan of Tin Cup. I’m glad finally did. There was something unique in the portrayal of how being a star athlete was similar to anyone who is successful in their profession; road warrior, great hotel rooms and dinners, having to perform at your peak for just a few hours while in town. Along with the drawbacks of long distance, sometimes superficial, relationships. I’m having a hard time remembering if there was even a scene in his house in Detroit, I don’t think there was. The movie employs flashbacks, and for the most part, they were well-placed; showing Billy Chapel learning the game from his father, grainy, authentic footage. Later flashbacks with Preston bring us to the current moment, also well done. The meet cute was just that. And some of the romance was a little hokey; they kiss really hard, and their arguments weren’t very convincing. Costner’s relationship with Preston’s daughter is sweet, you can feel that they need each other. Then there’s game, throughout which all of the above is taking place. Billy is pitching in what might be the last game of his hall of fame 19 year career. They’re in Yankees Stadium, because of course they are, and although the Tigers are out of contention, they’re playing spoiler, to prevent the Bombers from clinching the pennant. A statistic I liked was Vince Scully telling us that Chapel had walked towards the mound over forty one hundred times in his career, nice. I won’t spoil the results of the game for those who haven’t seen it, but I can say it’s unsurprising, and it’s beautiful. A little redemption scene for one of the outfielders was classy and subtle. There were two things I would’ve liked to have seen; Costner sustains a pretty serious injury and makes a comeback. This should’ve been developed a little deeper, maybe just another minute or two of his therapy, maybe on the mound for a minor league team or something. Then again just before the ending, there seems to be a scene missing. They show Costner and JC Reilly (his catcher, he was great) walking down a hotel corridor, they’d obviously been out. We should’ve seen them at the bar, with JK Simmons (Tigers manager) raising a glass to toast Costner, with a pan of all of his teammates. Good movie, presses all the right buttons. But why do they kiss so hard?!?