Field of Dreams

This ranks as one of my favorite movies of all time. You don't have to be a baseball fan to appreciate the nostalgia and warm heartedness this movie brings to the big screen - well little screen in the case of the DVD. It's part ghost story, part fantasy, part nostalgia. It's also about redemption and the fulfillment of dreams.

The story begins when Ray Kinsella, a reluctant Iowa farmer, although he won't admit he's reluctant, starts hearing a voice telling him "build it and he will come." Ray dreams, ponders and finally plows under many acres of his crop to build a baseball field on his farm, against all rational logic. And the magic begins. This magic takes Ray on a strange quest in search of a '60s radical holed up in a New York City apartment writing children's books played by James Earl Jones - to tell why would spoil the movie. But suffice it to say Jones ends up with one of the most memorable "speeches" in the movie about the nostalgia of baseball.

It's hard to really do justice to the plot without spoiling the movie but it will at times give you chills and in the end is very uplifting.

When I attended the Writers' Workshop at the University of Iowa, we were given one rule: "Never write about Christmas, the circus or baseball." The reasoning was that these three topics were just too ingrained in the American psyche, they were too iconic, and that they had been used too often. Well, I'm glad that Ray Kinsella (author of the book "Field of Dreams") and screenwriter Phil Alden Robinson didn't attend the Iowa Writers' Workshop.

FIELD OF DREAMS is a marvelous examination of America's infatuation with baseball and a moving exploration of family loyalties. Ray (as sensitively played by Kevin Costner) has a loving wife (Amy Madigan, making it look so easy) and a doting daughter, but something is missing. A voice tells him that he must build a baseball field in his corn crop (in Iowa!). When he does, the apparition of Shoeless Joe Jackson (Ray Liotta) shows up to play. What follows is a series of baseball adventures on and off Ray's baseball diamond, as well as in and out of the present day. Eventually, it becomes apparent that what was missing in Ray's life can only be addressed through baseball, and through a cultural icon from his past, played by the ubiquitous James Earl Jones.

When everything is resolved, there's a bit of throwaway dialogue that, in reality, is very moving. "It was you," Ray tells Shoeless Joe Jackson in reference to the voice he'd heard early in the film. "No, it was YOU," Jackson replies, indicating that
Ray's conscience prompted the entire adventure. Don't let anyone tell you that FIELD OF DREAMS is just a baseball movie. That would be like someone telling you that baseball is just a game.

Field of Dreams (1989)
Drama, Family, Fantasy, 107 minutes
Directed by Phil Alden Robinson
Starring Kevin Costner, James Earl Jones and Ray Liotta

Here's a movie that feels like vintage Spielberg. It was nominated for three Oscars: Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Score, but failed to win. It's more of a fantasy than a drama and the viewer is required to ignore logic and any expectation of how the real world works. If you can do that, there's a chance you might end up loving Field of Dreams.

The story focuses on Ray Kinsella (Costner) who runs a farm in Iowa. One day, he hears a voice whispering to him out in the cornfield. It says, "If you build it, he will come." That would be both worrying and annoying, I imagine. We aren't told what he has to build or who will come, but he eventually has a "vision" of a baseball field among the corn.

Put yourself in that situation. Would you think you were losing your mind? Dare you tell anybody? Would you consider acting on it, even for a moment? Well, Ray tells his wife Annie (Amy Madigan) and she believes him. You would have to have an incredibly honest relationship to inspire that level of trust.

Ray destroys part of his crop, builds the field, and somebody does come. It turns out to be Shoeless Joe Jackson (Liotta). That's amazing enough, but the voice doesn't stop. It wants something more from Ray. I won't reveal anything else about the plot as it's better to experience it for yourself.

Costner was a huge star in the 80s and 90s and plays Ray very effectively. My favorite character is Terence Mann, played by James Earl Jones, and he should have been nominated for his performance. The whole cast works well and the story plays out like a wild fantasy adventure. I always find myself engrossed in the story, anxious to see what happens next, although I have watched the movie many times.

Field of Dreams is nonsense, but it's heartwarming, feel-good nonsense that I will never tire of seeing.