Field of Dreams (1989)
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A farmer's decision to build a baseball field in his cornfield leads to the appearance of legendary ghosts from the game's past.
The story
Ray Kinsella, a farmer in Dyersville, Iowa, struggles with a strained relationship with his deceased father, a devoted baseball fan. After hearing a mysterious voice and seeing a vision of a baseball diamond in his cornfield, Ray decides to build one despite the potential financial risk. As the field takes shape, the ghost of 'Shoeless' Joe Jackson appears, and Ray begins to realize the field is a gateway to the past. The story follows Ray as he navigates the mystical occurrences on his farm while trying to reconcile his own past and find a sense of purpose in his life.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Ray Kinsella builds a baseball field in his Iowa cornfield after a mysterious voice tells him, 'If you build it, he will come.' The field begins to manifest the ghosts of legendary players, including Shoeless Joe Jackson. Ray eventually teams up with a recluse, Terence Mann, to find a man named Archie 'Moonlight' Graham, who had a brief and mysterious career. They discover that Graham's life was defined by his service as a doctor, and Ray realizes the field is a way to atone for his estranged relationship with his late father. As the seasons pass, the farm becomes a destination for fans, and the ghosts of the 1919 Black Sox appear. In a final revelation, Ray discovers that the 'voice' was guiding him toward reconciling with his father's memory. The film concludes with Ray and his family welcoming his father's spirit to the field, while the 'voice' confirms that the construction of the field was meant to ease his pain and help him go the distance.
- First release year
- 1989
- Runtime (minutes)
- 106
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Phil Alden Robinson
- Writers
- Phil Alden Robinson · screenplay
- Cast and characters
- Kevin Costner · Ray; Amy Madigan · Annie; James Earl Jones · Terence Mann; Ray Liotta · Shoeless Joe Jackson; Burt Lancaster · Archibald "Moonlight" Graham
- Genres
- sports; magical realism; drama; fantasy
- Tone and mood
- sentimental; dreamy; magical
- Setting
- A corn farm in Dyersville, Iowa, and various locations including Boston and Chisholm, Minnesota.
- Premise and plot tags
- magical realism; sports; supernatural; father-son relationship
- Source material / true-story basis
- Shoeless Joe
- Reception
- The film received positive reviews from critics and was praised for its sentimentality and atmosphere, though some critics found it overly sentimental.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 88% · scale: percentage · review count: 65; Metacritic · score: 57 · scale: 100 · review count: 18; CinemaScore · score: A · scale: A+ to F
- Awards and nominations
- Academy Award · Best Picture · Nominated; Academy Award · Best Original Score · Nominated; Academy Award · Best Adapted Screenplay · Nominated
- Production trivia
- The character of Moonlight Graham is based on a real baseball player.; The film was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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