Details
Movie Description
In this film that epitomizes the American love for baseball, Ray Kinsella, a struggling Iowa farmer (Kevin Costner), obeys a mysterious voice in his cornfield that tells him to replace part of his crop with a baseball diamond, resulting in the magical meeting of baseball heroes from the past, including Shoeless Joe Jackson, and the seven other Chicago White Sox players who were suspended for purposefully losing the 1919 World Series. Even after building the diamond, Ray continues to hear voices, and seeks the help of a hermit-like author in sorting out the mystery, which allows the confrontation of ghosts of other sorts.
Synopsis
Kevin Costner plays a former Sixties idealist who runs a farm in Iowa with his wife and young daughter. After hearing a mysterious, heavenly voice one day, Costner turns one of his cornfields into a baseball diamond. Of course, everyone thinks he's crazy, but in time "Shoeless" Joe Jackson and other ghostly outcasts, who had previously languished in a sort of baseball purgatory, show up to play the game they still love. Soon men from all over the country join them at this baseball shrine, some just to play with the greats, others to mend the broken relationships they had with their fathers -- But all are trying to get back in touch with simpler times through the purity of America's grandest game.
Film Notes
The baseball playing field created for the movie still stands in Iowa as a popular tourist attraction. The field is actually owned by two different farmers, and they have competing souvenir stands.
From November 18 to December 15, 1994, MCA/Universal offered this video for $5.99 through a special promotion with participating McDonald's restaurants.
Industry Reviews
"...A work so smartly written, so beautifully filmed, so perfectly acted, that it does the almost impossible trick of turning sentimentality into true emotion..."
New York Times - p.C8 - Caryn James (04/21/1989)
"...A labor of love for all concerned, and their sincerity and enthusiasm are suprisingly contagious..." -- Rating: B+
Entertainment Weekly - p.65 - Steve Simels (07/26/1996)
"...FIELD OF DREAMS is about as heartfelt a movie as any major studio has given us recently..."
Los Angeles Times - Michael Wilmington (04/21/1989)
"...Uniformly appealing acting..."
USA Today - Mike Clark (09/24/1993)
"...It's tight, gripping, and a bit moving too..."
Total Film - Simon Brew (05/01/2000)
"[T]his is a magical, moving experience, featuring a rare filmic glimpse at the serene beauty of Middle America."
Premiere - Premiere Staff (07/01/2004)
Quotations
"If you build it, he will come." -- an unearthly voice heard by Ray Kinsella (Kevin Costner)
"Oh, you're from the Sixties. Get out! Go back to the past while you can!" -- reclusive writer Terence Mann (James Earl Jones) to Ray Kinsella (Kevin Costner)
"I am pitching to Shoeless Joe Jackson." -- Ray Kinsella (Kevin Costner)
"Do you think I'm crazy?" -- Ray Kinsella (Kevin Costner) to his wife Annie Kinsella (Amy Madigan)
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