THE REWATCHABLES · July 12, 2024
A 1999 drama / romance / sports directed by Sam Raimi, covered in the complete Rewatchables archive.
ON THIS EPISODE
FROM THE CONVERSATION
WHY IT WORKS
WHAT DID NOT WORK
SCENES THEY KEPT COMING BACK TO
The opening baseball stretch, including Chapel’s focus and confrontation with Tuttle, is praised as an elite start.
About 16 minThe massage-to-hookup setup is praised as hilarious, sensual, and perfectly edited.
About 32 minBilly learning he has a perfect game and finishing it is treated as a top-tier sports-movie climax.
About 32 minThe no-hitter-saving catch and the locker-room pep talk are singled out as moving and rewatchable.
About 32 minThe ball-signing sequence is admired for its pacing and payoff into the inning.
About 32 minThe first dinner scene is mocked for bizarre dialogue and unnatural flirting.
About 56 minThe hand-injury hospital scene is ridiculed for melodrama and Kelly Preston’s reaction.
About 40 minThe airport reunion is seen as a long, unnecessary coda after the emotional peak.
About 24 minWHERE THEY DISAGREED
Bill SimmonsMostly yes; the romance is the movie’s worst part and could be heavily trimmed.
Mallory RubinNo full cut; the romance and structure are part of why the movie works as a flawed whole.
Bill SimmonsThe play is too improbable and should be rethought.
Mallory RubinIt should have ended on a strikeout or, at minimum, a less implausible baseball play.
Bill SimmonsYes, the film is one of the best ongoing documents of his greatness.
Mallory RubinCompelling, but Bill argues the actual baseball moments in his career matter more than the movie.
Calls it deeply flawed but a classic rewatchable because the baseball highs are so strong.
Opening minutesLoves getting direct access to Billy Chapel’s thoughts while pitching.
About 16 minViews Costner as a baseball-movie legend who fully commits to this role.
Opening minutesTreats the massage-to-hookup setup as one of the movie’s funniest and best-staged stretches.
About 32 minThinks the ninth inning and Vin Scully commentary are the movie’s high point.
About 32 minThinks the catch and locker-room aftermath are among the movie’s best parts.
About 32 minConsiders her the worst part of the movie and the main reason the romance fails.
Opening minutesArgues the flashback structure is smart even though the romance is disastrous.
About 24 minThinks the film should have ended at the hotel-room cry instead of continuing to the airport.
About 24 minTreats Scully as one of the main reasons the baseball scenes soar.
About 48 minUses Cox’s owner speech as a good performance but rejects its anti-progress baseball worldview.
About 48 min · medium confidenceSees Sam Tuttle as an ideal Yankees villain and hates the bunt to break up the perfect game.
About 32 minCalls the hospital confrontation one of the movie’s worst and most overacted scenes.
About 40 minTreats the missing full-frontal scene as a major injustice and a ridiculous studio decision.
About 56 minThe hosts admire how the movie lets the audience hear Billy Chapel think through pitches and pressure in real time.
About 16 minThey read the perfect game as inseparable from Billy’s emotional life and career ending.
About 24 minThe movie is valued because its best moments are excellent and its worst moments are absurdly bad, which makes channel-surfing fun.
About 8 minThey treat this as part of Kevin Costner’s baseball-movie legacy and admire his commitment to the role.
Opening minutesVin Scully’s narration is treated as a major reason the baseball scenes work so well.
About 48 minThe movie is based on a novel by Michael Shaara.
About 1:12The hosts say the movie was shot with strong baseball pedigree but still disappointed audiences and critics.
About 8 minThey claim Costner prepared for the role by pitching repeatedly and even sought help from the Yankees trainer.
Opening minutesThey say the film had a rumored cut full-frontal shower scene involving Costner.
About 8 minBill says Costner reportedly wanted Vin Scully as the announcer.
About 1:04They note Billy Chapel’s stats as 30 starts, 8-11, 355 ERA, 211 innings, 98 walks, and 111 strikeouts.
About 1:12The hosts say Billy Chapel has 10-5 rights and a no-trade clause issue that the movie ignores.
About 1:12Used as the benchmark for great baseball movies and the structural model this film approaches but misses.
About 8 minCited alongside Bull Durham as one of Costner’s all-time baseball classics.
About 8 minReferenced as another baseball movie they have previously discussed when talking about poetic sports-film language.
About 24 minMentioned as another bad late-90s movie that features John C. Reilly.
About 8 minUsed to explain why Costner’s reputation was rough around this period.
About 8 minReferenced as part of Costner’s late-90s comeback and sports-movie run.
About 8 minUsed as a marker in Costner’s career trajectory.
About 8 minReferenced to highlight J.K. Simmons’ dramatic range before playing a genial manager here.
About 48 minUsed when discussing Dominic Lombardozzi’s familiar character-actor identity.
About 1:04Listed among Dominic Lombardozzi’s later credits.
About 1:04Listed among Michael Papajohn’s credits when identifying him as Sam Tuttle.
About 1:04Mentioned as the book Billy is reading, also tied to the novel’s author Michael Shaara.
About 1:12Used as the rare exception to Bill’s dislike of movie narrators.
About 1:12Referenced to explain Kelly Preston’s late-90s visibility.
About 56 minUsed as a 1999 marker when discussing John C. Reilly on the bus.
About 1:12Repeated jokes about Costner’s body, glove-smelling, and the missing full-frontal scene become a recurring bit.
About 8 minHer scenes are revisited so often that they become a running gag about the movie’s worst element.
Opening minutesThey repeatedly quote and admire Vin Scully’s narration as an apex baseball-voice performance.
About 48 minThey obsess over Billy Chapel’s stats, pitch mix, innings totals, and how realistic his velocity would be.
About 8 minThey enjoy the movie’s caricatured Yankee fans and bar hecklers as a running sports-movie annoyance bit.
About 48 min“It is the most flawed sports movie probably ever.”Opening minutes
“How do you like to be kissed?”About 56 min
“We don't stink right now.”About 32 min
“I love you, Mickey Hart!”About 32 min
“He's pitching against time”About 48 min
MAKE IT A MOVIE NIGHT
WHAT TO WATCH NEXT
Three movies to watch before For Love of the Game, and three to watch next.
ON THE MIC
Bill SimmonsThe Rewatchables
Mallory RubinThe RewatchablesREWATCH FAVS
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