In the minds of many, this isn't simply the best baseball movie ever made — it might be among the best movies ever made. Nonetheless, RottenTomatoes puts its score at a staggering 87%.
Based on the 1982 novel "Shoeless Joe," "Field Of Dreams" introduces us to beleaguered farmer Ray Kinsella (Kevin Costner, in a performance still being celebrated decades later), grappling with the death of his father, the changing tenets of Reagan-era America, and a general sense that life is passing him by. It all changes one day out in his corn field, when he hears a voice.
Should he heed its urging whisper of "If you build it, he will come?" Should he risk the farm, his family and public humiliation by chasing a dream?
Once constructed, his baseball diamond becomes populated by the ghosts of disgraced baseball players from the 1919 "Black Sox" scandal including his father's hero, the great "Shoeless" Joe Jackson (Ray Liotta). They ask if this is heaven. "No," replies Ray. "It's Iowa."
What follows is an inspiring scavenger hunt of faith, sending Ray and what money he has left journeying around the country collecting Salinger-like writers (James Earl Jones) and small-town doctors who like to wink (Burt Lancaster/Frank Whaley). Sure enough, the experience helps Ray finally get to know the father he never understood — and if you don't have a tear for the classic "Wanna have a catch?" scene, you're icier than an Iowa lake in winter.
Nominated for three Academy Awards including Best Picture, "Field Of Dreams" has become a true American classic.
- Starring: Kevin Costner, James Earl Jones, Ray Liotta, Burt Lancaster
- Director: Phil Alden Robinson
- Runtime: 107 minutes
- Rating: PG
- Rotten Tomatoes Score: 87%
