4 - "Field Of Dreams" (1989)

 

     What a magical movie this is. While football is America's favorite sport, baseball will ALWAYS be its national pastime. I love almost all sports, but nothing beats sitting in the stands taking in a baseball game. The sights, the sounds, the smells of a baseball game are second to none. Field of Dreams knows this and for an hour and forty-five minutes, it reminds us of why baseball is important to many of us. Kevin Costner stars as Ray Kinsella, an Iowa corn farmer, who while working in the fields one day hears a voice saying, "If you build it, he will come." He believes at first he may be going crazy, and doesn't get much sympathy from his wife or the local townspeople. He keeps hearing the voice but doesn't know what to do, until that is one night when he can't sleep, he gets a mental image of baseball player "Shoeless" Joe Jackson in his corn. Jackson was a member of the infamous 1919 Chicago "Black" Sox team. Eight members of that team, including Jackson, were paid by gamblers to throw the World Series on purpose. After finding out about the deal, baseball suspended all eight players for life and the event is still the blackest eye on a beautiful sport. After seeing the vision, Ray becomes convinced that the voice means he should build a baseball field in his corn. If he does, it means Shoeless Joe can come back to play. His wife Annie (Amy Madigan) thinks he may be crazy, but also thinks that he should follow his dreams and if he feels this is right, then he should do it. So he does, and he builds a beautiful field at that. Time passes with nothing happening. The bank starts to threaten the property and Ray feels like he may have made a mistake. But then one night, Shoeless Joe walks out of the corn and onto the field.

     I will stop there with the plot synopsis. The movie is one that should be experienced without knowing what to expect. Field of Dreams is smart in that for most of the movie we go along thinking the movie is about one thing, only to learn in the last five minutes that it's about something completely different. But we don't feel cheated at all, because the answer was right there in our face all along, we just didn't see it. When we learn what the movie is really about, it leads to one of the most touching scenes ever filmed in my opinion. It is very heartwarming and even the strongest guy might have a hard time choking back tears. I fully admit that I can't watch the end of this movie without crying a little bit. It just means so much to me. There are people who may see the end of it and not realize why I think it's such a big deal. But anyone who has ever had "a catch" will understand why it's so important. This one's for you dad.