|
Field Of Dreams The Premise An Iowa farmer hears a voice in his cornfield accompanied by a vision of a baseball field. He takes it as a sign to build a baseball diamond which would ennable Shoeless Joe Jackson of the infamous Chicago "Black" Sox to play ball again.
The Cast:
The Locations:
The Reviews Baseball is perhaps the most literary of sports. Like a good book, it unfolds at a leisurely pace, offering more suspense than action. Tempering anticipation with nostalgia, it is a game enamored of its own myths, legends and statistical lore. Over the years, many writers have made it their muse, but none as fanatically as British Columbia author W.P. Kinsella. Now, Shoeless Joe, Kinsella's best-selling 1982 novel about an Iowa farmer who carves a baseball diamond out of his cornfield, has been cut and polished into an unlikely gem of a Hollywood movie with a new title, Field of Dreams. It belongs to a new breed of baseball movies. Traditionally, the sport has not scored well with movie audiences. But during the past year, Hollywood has tried to improve its batting average with half a dozen features about the boys of summer. Last season's Bull Durham, in which a smouldering Kevin Costner fielded low-ball curves from Susan Sarandon, broke the losing streak. And this month, a sophomoric farce about the Cleveland Indians titled Major League has taken an easy hold on first place at the spring box office. Now, Costner rekindles his romance with the game in Field of Dreams. But this time around, there is much less swagger in his walk: he is playing a humble spectator rather than a player, an ordinary family man with extraordinary fantasies. While baseball served as a metaphor for sex in Bull Durham, it becomes a yellow brick road back to boyhood innocence in Field of Dreams. Sex seems to be the last thing on anyone's mind. Instead, the movie explores the mystical bond between father and son. Meanwhile, Costner acts with ease and grace, finally living up to frequent comparisons with James Stewart and Gary Cooper. After playing tough guys in Bull Durham, The Untouchables and No Way Out, he seems more comfortable as a mere mortal, an all-American dreamer. In Field of Dreams - a movie that loads the bases with laughter, tears and magic - he has scored a grand slam. Brian D. Johnson Maclean's, May 1, 1989 A vision inspires Ray Kinsella (Kevin Costner) to cut a baseball diamond out of his Iowa cornfield, and a mysterious voice tells him, "If you build it, he will come." As Ray surveys his work, he says to his wife, Annie (Amy Madigan), "I have just created something totally illogical." And she replies, "That's what I like about it." Even if the movie weren't so good, Robinson and Universal Studios would deserve a lot of credit for making this illogical film. Costner, too, was bucking conventional wisdom by acting in his second baseball movie in a year (he also starred in Bull Durham). But then, Field of Dreams transcends the genre. Comparing this with the box office hit Major League is a little like comparing The New Yorker to Mad magazine. Field of Dreams is not for everyone, but if you're the kind of person who can't get through the holiday season without watching It's a Wonderful Life or the baseball season without The Pride of the Yankees, then run, don't walk. . . . Field of Dreams heeds its own voice. It goes the distance. Steve Wulf Sports Illustrated, May 1, 1989 
The Articles Ted Buss. Fri, June 7, 2002 Game of catch Effective fatherhood measured by times spent away from dugouts, outside goal line. Can you remember the last movie that made you cry? If you say it was when Lloyd and Harry had their brief falling out on the road to Nebraska in "Dumb and Dumber," we need to talk. But really, I can't remember. I cry a lot in movies, so it's hard to say which one came last. It happens every Christmas when I watch that final scene in "It's a Wonderful Life," and every spring when I haul out my copy of "Field of Dreams." And of course, I cried during "Places in the Heart," "Saving Private Ryan," "Braveheart," "Forrest Gump," "Sophie's Choice," "Pride of the Yankees," "Out of Africa," "A River Runs Through It," the original "Titanic" and "10 North Frederick." It's nothing to be ashamed of, unless, of course, you're bawling in someone else's popcorn. The only thing I'm really ashamed of is I still peak through those little round holes in the crown of my ball cap when I watch a well-done horror flick. But like many of you manly men, I'm a sap for the really good tearjerkers. And it doesn't matter how many times I see it, "Field of Dreams" digs at my spirit. And I know why. In the event you somehow missed the movie, "Field of Dreams" is a tale of love discovered between a father and son. I don't see it as a story of modern fathers wanting to be best buddies with their sons, but rather fathers who become real dads. There is a difference. James Earl Jones, Ray Liotta and Burt Lancaster are superbly cast, and tenderly plant the seeds for a warm journey in a sport that's easy to love . . . baseball. It is a movie that will remain timeless because it deals with two enduring subjects - compassion and baseball. Several scenes are powerful, like Moonlight Graham's one shot at the majors and Jones' moving discourse about the magic of baseball. Of course, all James Earl Jones has to do is say, "This is CNN," and you can't help but feel the power. The story travels with a measured flow until its gentle journey and bold characters have captured your emotions. The part that always gets me comes toward the end of the movie. With late summer shadows stretching across the field and a young catcher gathering his gear at home plate, Ray Kinsella (Kevin Costner) looks at the man's back and realizes it's his father when he was a young man. And then the great line. "Dad, want to play catch?" Forever, dads and sons have played "Horse" on the driveway, hit practice golf balls in the park and played catch on the lawn. It is a special link that, hopefully, will never die. Like a few other guys who are reading along right now, "Field of Dreams" reminds me of my dad. The times we had fishing, slaving away in his garden and pulling on our weathered Rawlings gloves to work on curveballs and sliders in our driveway.
The Sounds Ray Kinsella:"I never forgave him for getting old. By the time he was as old as I am now, he was ancient." The Voice:"If you build it, he will come." Shoeless Joe Jackson: "Can I come back again?" Ray ... "Yea, I built this for you." Ray:"That is so cool!" Ray:"Don't you miss being involved?" Terence Mann:"I was the East Coast distributor of involved." Ray:"I marched, I smoked some grass, I tried to like sitar music." Ray:"Is there a heaven?" John Kinsella:"Oh, yeah. It's the place dreams come true." Ray:"I have just created something totally illogical." Ray:"I'm 36 years old. I have a wife, a child, and a mortgage, and I'm scared to death I'm turning into my father." Shoeless Joe:"Hey, is this heaven?" Ray:"No, it's Iowa." Ray:"Officially, my major was English, but really, it was the sixties." Anni:"At least, he's not a bookburner, you Nazi cow." Anni:"Ray, this is a very non-specific voice you have out there, and he's starting to piss me off." Ray:"I know a lot about farming." Mark:"Oh, you do?" Ray:"I know a lot more than you think I do." Mark:"Well, then, how could you plow under your major crop?" Ray:"What's a crop?" Anni:(laughing) Ray:"She smelled weird, but we loved her anyway." Anni:"Hey! What if the voice calls while you're gone?" Ray:"Take a message." Ray:"All right, that's it. Huh? Who are you, huh? Whaddaya want from me?"
The Links |
