"If you build it, he will come."

Ray Kinsella, his wife Annie and daughter Karin move to Iowa and start a life in farming. The simple farming life soon takes a turn for the supernatural after Ray hears voices while out in the fields. These voices are translated as a request to build a baseball pitch in his crop fields to herald the return of baseball legend "Shoeless" Joe Jackson. The local community think he's crazy and the loss in revenue this brings to his farm has left the bank hot on Ray's heels. Can Ray pursue his dream or will he have to forfeit his beliefs for the sake of his farm?

"I'm 36 years old, I love my family, I love baseball and I'm about to become a farmer. But until I heard the voice, I'd never done a crazy thing in my whole life."


skyjude review
A story that could be construed as sentimental slush if described to you, becomes a hugely moving experience as you watch and accept all the unearthly events taking place throughout. Infact, far from mocking the radical swings in reality, you find yourself cheering each time Ray Kinsella puts the voices in his head into action. I'm neither a huge fan of Costner or baseball but this matters not when enjoying this highly revered fable. If only more movies could be as purposely satisfying as this one.

Top 5 Reasons for Watching Field Of Dreams

[5] "At least he is not a book burner, you Nazi cow"
Annie lets rip at the school PTA meeting. And through it all Ray is trying to crack the code of the latest message the voices in the field gave him…

[4] Burt Lancaster
It's only a small role for the screen legend but is wonderfully played and becomes a beautifully pivotal part in the movie.

[3] The ending
It's not exactly gentle with it's lashings of sentimentality but it does nicely bring the story together and ensures all leave the theatre feeling a little happier with life than before. That surely can be no bad thing.

[2] Ray meets Terence Mann
James Earl Jones is just terrific in his initial confrontation with Kevin Costner's Ray Kinsella. Reluctant to listen to Ray's crazy request, Terence is hysterical as he ushers him from his apartment - "I'm going to beat you with a crowbar until you leave".

[1] It's magical!
A sort of adult fairytale - Field Of Dreams is a practically unique film in concept and feel-good values. Even the most cynical of film fans should be entitled to sit back and enjoy a film that ignores the harsh confines of reality and just aims for the heart.


Field Of Dreams quotes

Ray Kinsella: It's okay, honey. I, I was just talking to the cornfield.

Annie Kinsella: If you build what, who will come?
Ray Kinsella: He didn't say.

Annie Kinsella: Shoeless Joe?
Ray Kinsella: He's dead. Died in '51. He's dead.
Annie Kinsella: He's the one they suspended, right?
Ray Kinsella: Right.
Annie Kinsella: He's still dead?
Ray Kinsella: Far as I know.

Ray Kinsella: My name's Ray Kinsella. You used my father's name in one of your stories, John Kinsella.
Terence Mann: You're seeing a whole team of psychiatrists, aren't you?

Ray Kinsella: Don't you miss being involved?
Terence Mann: I was the East Coast distributor of involved. I ate it, drank it, and breathed it. Then they killed Martin, Bobby, and they elected Tricky Dick twice, and people like you must think I'm miserable because I'm not involved anymore. Well, I've got news for you. I spent all my misery years ago. I have no more pain for anything. I gave at the office.

Dr. Archibald "Moonlight" Graham: You know we just don't recognize the most significant moments of our lives while they're happening. Back then I thought, well, there'll be other days. I didn't realize that that was the only day.

Dr. Archibald "Moonlight" Graham: Well, you know I, I never got to bat in the major leagues. I would have liked to have had that chance. Just once. To stare down a big league pitcher. To stare him down, and just as he goes into his windup, wink. Make him think you know something he doesn't. That's what I wish for. Chance to squint at a sky so blue that it hurts your eyes just to look at it. To feel the tingling in your arm as you connect with the ball. To run the bases - stretch a double into a triple, and flop face first into third, wrap your arms around the bag. That's my wish, Ray Kinsella. That's my wish. And is there enough magic out there in the moonlight to make this dream come true?

Mark: You don't know the first thing about farming.
Ray Kinsella: Yes I do. I know a lot about farming. I know more than you think I know.
Mark: Then how could you plow under your major crop?
Ray Kinsella: What's a crop?

Mark: You're going to lose your farm, pal.
Ray Kinsella: Come on, it's so big. I mean, how can you lose something so big?
Annie Kinsella: He misplaced the house once.
Ray Kinsella: Yeah, but it turned up two days later, didn't it?

Ray Kinsella: You lied to me.
Terence Mann: Well, you were kidnapping me at the time, you big jerk!
Ray Kinsella: Well, you lied to me!
Terence Mann: You said your finger was a gun!
Ray Kinsella: That's a good point.

Terence Mann: Ray. People will come, Ray. They'll come to Iowa for reasons they can't even fathom. They'll turn up on your driveway not knowing for sure why they're doing it. They'll arrive at your door as innocent as children, longing for the past. Of course, we won't mind if you look around, you'll say. It's only $20 per person. They'll pass over the money without even thinking about it. For it is money they have and peace they lack. And they'll walk out to the bleachers, sit in shirtsleeves on a perfect afternoon. They'll find they have reserved seats somewhere along one of the baselines, where they sat when they were children and cheered their heroes. And they'll watch the game and it'll be as if they dipped themselves in magic waters. The memories will be so thick they'll have to brush them away from their faces. People will come Ray. The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game - it's a part of our past, Ray. It reminds of us of all that once was good and it could be again. Oh, people will come Ray. People will most definitely come.

Ray Kinsella: What are you grinning at you ghost?

John Kinsella: Is this heaven?
Ray Kinsella: It's, it's Iowa.
John Kinsella: I could have sworn it was heaven.
Ray Kinsella: Is there a heaven?
John Kinsella: Oh, yeah. It's the place where dreams come true.
Ray Kinsella: Maybe this is heaven.


Production company: Gordon Company