Field of Dreams (1989)

Director:

Phil Alden Robinson

Writers (WGA):

W.P. Kinsella (book)
Phil Alden Robinson (screenplay)

Release Date:

21 April 1989 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Family | Fantasy | Sport

Tagline:

All his life, Ray Kinsella was searching for his dreams. Then one day, his dreams came looking for him.

Plot:

An Iowa corn farmer, hearing voices, interprets them as a command to build a baseball diamond in his fields; he does, and the Chicago Black Sox come.

Plot Keywords:

Iowa | Farmer | Baseball | Author | Ghost

Awards:

Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 5 wins & 8 nominations

Cast

Kevin Costner	...	Ray Kinsella
Amy Madigan	...	Annie Kinsella
Gaby Hoffmann	...	Karin Kinsella
Ray Liotta	...	Shoeless Joe Jackson
Timothy Busfield	...	Mark
James Earl Jones	...	Terence 'Terry' Mann
Burt Lancaster	...	Dr. Archibald 'Moonlight' Graham
Frank Whaley	...	Archie Graham
Dwier Brown	...	John Kinsella
James Andelin	...	Feed Store Farmer
Mary Anne Kean	...	Feed Store Lady
Fern Persons	...	Annie's Mother
Kelly Coffield Park	...	Dee, Mark's Wife (as Kelly Coffield)
Michael Milhoan	...	Buck Weaver - 3B
Steve Eastin	...	Eddie Cicotte - P

Also Known As:

Shoeless Joe (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

107 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Spain:T | Iceland:L | West Germany:6 (f) | South Korea:12 (DVD rating) | South Korea:All | Argentina:Atp | Chile:TE | Finland:S | Sweden:Btl | UK:PG | USA:PG | Australia:PG | Singapore:PG | Portugal:M/12 | Portugal:M/6 (DVD rating)

Filming Locations:

Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Company:

Gordon Company

Trivia:

W.P. Kinsella and J.D. Salinger, on whom the character Terence Mann is based, were friends. In fact, Salinger accompanied Kinsella to Chisolm, Minn. in 1975 in search of Moonlight Graham, who had died 10 years earlier. Kinsella said he chose Graham's character for his book "Shoeless" Joe Jackson because he was intrigued by his nickname when he came across it while thumbing through the Baseball Encyclopedia.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): A number of the newspaper articles being read by Ray and Terrence in the Chisholm, Minnesota, newspaper office have the town name misspelled as "Chisolm".

Quotes:

Annie Kinsella: At least he is not a book burner, you Nazi cow.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Animaniacs: Video Review/When Mice Ruled the Earth (#1.47)" (????)

Soundtrack:

China Grove

Sometimes, dreams do come true !

Very rarely, you see a film that means one thing when your father is alive, and another when he is dead. When I first saw this movie, my father was still alive, we had not spoken for 8 years, and I thought, cute, but it knows nothing about real life ! When I saw it again, he had been dead for over a year, and I cried like a baby.

I'm English, so for me the baseball element was lost, but what did hit home was the awareness that we are all flawed people, and the expectations we have for our parents, are way and beyond what we achieve ourselves as we grow older.

The film is not about baseball, it is about a second chance ! An opportunity to say hiya Dad, I was didn't know then, but I'm older now and understand more about the way the world works.

In terms of the film, Cosner has never had a better role, Lancaster as Doc Graham finally showed what a great actor he really was, and James Earl Jones was simply perfect.

In short a great film, James Horner's theme music is wonderful, the visuals are fantastic, the acting is as good as you could hope to see.

For most this is a feel good movie, for me this is a reminder that it is never too late to make amends, I just miss my Father