Field Of Dreams DVD
Universal Studios
Rated: PG
Genre: Drama
Length: 106 minutes
Director: Phil Alden Robinson
Year: (1989)
Britt Gillette's Field Of Dreams DVD Review
Receiving a 1990 Academy Award nomination for Best Picture, Field of Dreams is as close to perfect as a movie can be (character "Shoeless" Joe Jackson's right-handed batting stance is about the only flaw that can be found). Director Phil Alden Robinson turns in a Frank Capra-esque performance with his brilliant adaptation of W.P. Kinsella's book Shoeless Joe. A rare, family-friendly movie that will captivate and inspire adults both young and old, Field of Dreams is a must-see film for any lover of life.
The story begins with a narration by Ray Kinsella (Kevin Costner) of his life up this point - his father's love of baseball (especially "Shoeless" Joe Jackson), his estrangement from his father at a young age, the upheaval of the 1960s, and finally, Ray's love affair with his wife Annie (Amy Madigan). In their mid-thirties, the couple takes a bold step when they purchase an Iowa farm and settle down with their daughter Karin.
In the opening scene, one of the most famous movie lines in history is hoist upon the audience. While Ray tends to his cornfield, he hears a mysterious voice whisper, "If you build it, he will come…" Realizing that he is the only one who hears the voice, Ray struggles with the idea that he is going crazy. That is, until one night when he looks out his bedroom window and envisions a baseball field in his backyard. Believing that if he builds the baseball field, "Shoeless" Joe Jackson (Ray Liotta) will come to play upon its surface, Ray acquires the blessing of his wife and sets out to make his dream a reality.
Plowing up his cornfield and building a full-size baseball diamond, the whole town thinks Ray has gone nuts. After an uneventful year passes by, Ray begins to believe them. He and Annie are struggling to keep themselves together financially when Karin points out that a man is standing on her daddy's baseball field. Ray turns on the lights and goes outside to greet him. The man he meets is "Shoeless" Joe. Immediately, Annie and Ray agree that they will keep the field at all costs. "Shoeless" Joe brings other ex-ballplayers out of the mysterious corn to practice and throw the ball around, when Ray hears the voice yet again… "Go the distance," it says.
Pondering the intent of this latest voice, Ray determines that he must go to Boston to meet with Terence Mann (James Earl Jones), an influent 1960's writer whose books are being considered for a ban by the local school board. Winning over the reclusive writer, Ray and Terence travel to Minnesota to find Archibald "Moonlight" Graham (Burt Lancaster) whose name they saw emblazoned in the scoreboard lights at Fenway. When a young Archie appears by the roadside to join them on their return trip to the corn-carved ball field, truly magical things begin to take place.
Karin's life is saved by a ghost thankful for his chance to live out his long lost dream, and the farm is saved from foreclosure when Ray's brother-in-law Mark finally realizes the true value of the baseball field and thousands of visitors are drawn to its magic from parts unknown. With an emotional surprise ending sure to touch most audience members, Field of Dreams is a film for the ages…
Britt Gillette
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Posted on 10 December 2004