Field of Dreams (1989) Reviews

• Sometimes, dreams do come true !

  steve russell2001-12-01

  Very rarely, you see a film that means one thing when your father is alive, and another when he is dead. When I first saw this movie, my father was still alive, we had not spoken for 8 years, and I thought, cute, but it knows nothing about real life ! When I saw it again, he had been dead for over a year, and I cried like a baby. I'm English, so for me the baseball element was lost, but what did hit home was the awareness that we are all flawed people, and the expectations we have for our parents, are way and beyond what we achieve ourselves as we grow older. The film is not about baseball, it is about a second chance ! An opportunity to say hiya Dad, I was didn't know then, but I'm older now and understand more about the way the world works. In terms of the film, Cosner has never had a better role, Lancaster as Doc Graham finally showed what a great actor he really was, and James Earl Jones was simply perfect. In short a great film, James Horner's theme music is wonderful, the visuals are fantastic, the acting is as good as you could hope to see. For most this is a feel good movie, for me this is a reminder that it is never too late to make amends, I just miss my Father

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• A cathartic film

  dwmarshall12006-06-28

  I've just joined the club and the first film I felt the need to comment on was this, "Field of Dreams". Why? Because, firstly, it's haunted me since its release and secondly, because it had such a cathartic effect upon me. Like so many young people, I lost my dad when I was in my teens. I was fifteen. I'm fifty-nine now. The lost opportunity, the grief, cling to you like lead. When you need to discuss the paradoxes of this world with someone, you find they are gone. They will not return. Though by no means a perfect film - would we ever really want to see a perfect film? - it has heart, a centre to it that opens gateways for those bereft, even though unaware, by loss. I remember watching it the first time on the back row of a cinema with my ex-wife - long after back rows had any import - and, at the end, having to physically contain the need to sob uncontrollably. This had never happened to me before (unless you go back to Elvis riding into the hills at the end of Flaming Star when I was but a snivelling - and probably dysfunctional - early teen. The movie is a masterpiece in that it lives with you decades after its first viewing. In that you cannot analyse it, breaking it down cynically into manipulative parts. I've seen thousands of films and with each one that I feel has entered my soul I always ask myself, has it reached beyond Field of Dreams? In some respects the answer is yes, yet these are technical analyses of product. I've never had to do that with Field of Dreams. It is itself and defies scrutiny as would Gandhi defy psychoanalysis. It is, to itself, true. The cast are great. To this day, despite much, I like Kevin Costner. My sole concern is, why the hell can't I buy "Shoeless Joe", the novel upon which it was based and which I read in the late eighties? It contains much more background and is, in itself, an absorbing read. Dave Marshall

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• A magical experience

  justafanuk2002-09-26

  This is the first time I've commented upon a film at IMDB, but after watching Field Of Dreams for the, ohh, dozenth or so time, I just wanted to share my ramblings and musings on this film. I first saw this film almost a decade or so ago, I was watching it alone on video after idly looking through some tapes for something. I was caught by the amount of glowing recommendations on the cover, and although it seemed to involve lots of baseball, something that I have never been even remotely drawn to, I thought I'd give it a chance. An hour and 40 minutes later and I had dissolved into a steam of tears, that were only broken up by the smile stretched right across my face. To me, this is the closest film I've seen that I would consider being perfect. My favourite film is The Godfather, with Godfather Part Two right alongside, but no film gives me such an emotionally rewarding experience as Field Of Dreams. This truly is a film dipped in magic waters. Why do I love this film so? The acting right across the board is naturalistic and strong. We believe the characters when they say what they say and do what they do. The whole tone and design of the film let us believe in the choices the characters make, we want Ray to build the field and have Shoeless Joe appear, we want Terrance Mann to go Finway Park with Ray, we want Archie Graham to get to play his dream, and most of all, even though we don't expect it or see it coming (well I didn't), we want Ray to get to throw a catch with his dad.> The design, again, is wonderful. The lighting, and cinematography make your eyes and your heart ache, the magic hour lighting, the little break in Ray's voice when he asks his dad if he wants to have a catch, the moment Doc steps over the field and into the present to save Karin, when Mark mouths "What the f..." upon first seeing Doc Graham, the score, the fact that they talk about smoking grass and trying acid in what is essentially a family film in content and marketing, when Archie Graham gets picked up on the way back home and says "Hi, I'm Archie Graham", the sheer MAGIC!!! Anyone thinking they may even be slightly put off by thinking the film is a baseball film, don't be. It's not about baseball, the sport serves as the backdrop for a story about loss, reconciliation, parents and family, dreams and having the courage to go through them. It really is a universal and timeless film, which is a cliched saying, but this is really one of those cases where it more than justifies the comment. Simply beautiful.

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• Wonderful, joyous piece of America where dreams are possible!

  movieman91999-10-16

  I truly believe that every once in a blue moon, a film can contain a sense of wonder, magic, and the power of dreams. The title says it all. "Field of Dreams" is destined to become (if it hasn't already) an American classic, and easily one of the most engrossing films of the eighties. Throughout the decade, we have seen a crock of films that capitalized on getting as much of anything the characters could grasp (hence the "me decade"). This film, made in 1989, reaffirmed what we learned from Hollywood in the forties, that dreams can come true and people can be saved by what they choose to believe in. And to top it all off, baseball is its subject. The great American pastime takes on a mystical quality that is nothing but immortal. Kevin Costner plays Ray Kinsella, a corn farmer that seems to be stranded in his life, only choosing his profession because it allowed him to get away from the idealized dreams of his father that never became reality. One day, while roaming aimlessly through his cornfield, he hears a unknown voice speak to him, saying the words that have become synonomous with the film itself, "If you build it, he will come." He is compelled by the strange message, and even convinces his wife what he heard was real and definite. He believes that the simple words mean he is to build a baseball diamond in his field, and he sets out to do just that, and he indeed does one heck of a job. After at least half a year passes, following endless strains on their patience, who should show up in the field but Shoeless Joe Jackson, the famous alleged criminal from the 1919 Black Sox Scandal who was dismissed from the game of baseball forever, until now... After all that is said and done, the film takes a back road and curves it into this storyline brilliantly. Ray receives a second message which he deciphers as getting a famous civil rights writer, Terence Mann (played wonderfully by James Earl Jones), to come visit his new ballfield. Of course it is to be expected that Mann begrudgingly resists Ray to join him, but he too becomes propelled by the power of the field's magic, and his life (like Ray's) is changed forever. Even Burt Lancaster shows up out of thin air (literally), but that's a different part of the plot altogether that I wouldn't dare reveal in fear someone reading this review has incompetently not seen this picture. "Field of Dreams" is one of the strangest films I've seen, and possibly one of the best. When it throws its subject matter at you, you wonder how a story so preposterous can ever work. But somehow, I was deeply moved like Costner and Jones were by the miraculous incidents put in front of me. This film is not like any fantasy film I've seen, but in a way, it is like many that I've encountered. Some of my favorite movies elicited such an amazing feeling of warmth and grace in me that I was afraid to analyse it for fear that it would ruin the awesome impact I received. "Field of Dreams" is exactly like that, an odd piece of moviemaking that overwhelms you with its wonder and positive qualities that in turn leaves no doubt it is a classic, just from the way it moves you while watching it. Therefore, I'm not going to try to pick it apart and attempt to show the world my "field" of brilliance. All I will say is this is the kind of movie Hollywood should be reeling out more often, a tiny masterpiece that lets others be refreshed in their faith and believe in their crazy little fantasies. Ray Kinsella did, and now, so do I. Rating: Four stars.

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• Beautiful Film

  yisraelharris2006-06-10

  It is truly a rare movie indeed to which I would give a 10. But this is one of my all-time favorites. This is a movie about themes like reconciliation, destiny, redemption, idealism, disappointment, the difficulty of relationships, especially that of the father-son relationship. In this movie, the baseball field is where all such issues achieve resolution. This is such a gentle movie, full of such sincerity, and moving emotions. Although it is by no means an upbeat movie, it is nevertheless ultimately a very optimistic and positive movie. As some reviewers have noticed, some suspension of disbelief is required. A movie with no guns, violence, gangsters, no gratuitous sex, just down-to-earth good people, and a good message. What a gem. P.S. Interestingly, there really was a Moonlight Graham. See his baseball career stats here: http://www.baseball-reference.com/g/grahamo01.shtml. Some of the details of his life are altered in the movie; cf. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moonlight_Graham.

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