Fifteen years after the fact, Paul Janszen and Tommy Gioiosa are back together. They hated the movie, except for one thing: it gave them a second life, this time to get things right.

After 15 years of enmity, they are reunited in friendship. Their enmity was rooted in the Rose case. Gioiosa had been Rose's longtime housemate who regarded the star as a father figure. Janszen supplanted Gioiosa in Rose's life, almost from the time Gioiosa introduced Janszen to Rose in December 1986.

KEY FIGURES IN MOVIE

Pete Rose: Baseball's all-time hits leader; accepted ban from sport in 1989 but denied he had bet on baseball while managing the Reds. Later admitted he did, though. Paul Janszen: Former friend of Rose's and one of his chief accusers. Said he made bets with bookmakers for Rose. Convicted of tax evasion. Danita Marcum: Janszen's girlfriend, now his wife, pushed Janszen to confront Rose about the money owed Janszen. Marcum also placed bets for Rose. Tommy Gioiosa: Bodybuilder was Rose's former housemate who acted as an intermediary on some of his bets. Convicted of tax evasion, drug trafficking and falsely claiming gambling winnings. Online • Dowd Report: www.dowdreport.com

But the worst of it was when Janszen testified against him in Gioiosa's 1989 trial for tax evasion, drug trafficking and falsely claiming gambling winnings.

"There were times I hated him," Gioiosa said from his home in Florida. "I've had friends tell me, 'How can you do this (reunite with Janszen)? The man put you in prison!' What I tell them is, 'How long is long enough (to forgive)?' "

Gioiosa said a confluence of events that he can describe only as "fate" conspired to bring him and Janszen back together.

Janszen, who served four months in a halfway house in 1989 for tax evasion, had tried to reach Gioiosa in recent years but was always rebuffed.

"The timing never felt right," Gioiosa said. "This time, it did. I was driving to Columbus to pick up a vehicle for my wife. I got a call from Buzz Bissinger (who wrote a piece in Vanity Fair a few years ago about Gioiosa's relationship with Rose) and Buzz said, 'You need to call Paul. He's just seen the movie and he wants to talk with you.'

"I was giving it some thought and that's when the song came on the radio by Tim McGraw, 'Live Like You Were Dying.' And I started thinking, 'If I was dying, would I call him?' And the answer was yes. I called and his wife, Danita, answered. And she put me on with Paul. I felt he was being sincere."

Twenty minutes later, Gioiosa's phone rang again. This time it was his friend, Jimmy, in Cincinnati.

"You'll never believe who's in the doctor's office with my dad," Jimmy said. "Pete Rose!"

"Oh my god, this is a strange day," Gioiosa answered.

A few minutes later, Gioiosa's phone rang again. This time it was a Cincinnati TV reporter who wanted to talk with Rose. The reporter had heard that Gioiosa was back on speaking terms with the Hit King.

"I told the reporter, 'I don't know what information you have, but Pete and I don't talk anymore. And besides, Pete Rose is in a doctor's office in Cincinnati right now.' "

The phone calls all took place within a half hour.

"It was almost like it was supposed to happen," he recalled.

Gioiosa spent last weekend in Cincinnati with Janszen.

"We had a great time, a lot of laughs," Janszen said. "We (met) ... for breakfast, and we must've talked for four hours. We've talked almost every day since."

What was it like before the planets careened out of orbit?

"There was a time when I felt so indebted to him (Rose)," Gioiosa said. "I looked up to him so much. At the height of his career, Pete was the Elvis Presley of baseball. He still has that ability to lure you in. You know he's wrong, but you want to believe him. It's like running with the devil. You're having a great time while you're doing it, but man do you ever pay later."

Janszen and Gioiosa compare notes and agree that they are happy with their lives now.

"It feels good to sleep well," Gioiosa said. "It's interesting that what brought us together, separated us, and now (through the movie) has brought us back together."