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Field of Dreams is a 1989 American fantasy/drama film, directed and adapted by Phil Alden Robinson from the novel Shoeless Joe Jackson Comes to Iowa by W. P. Kinsella. The movie stars Kevin Costner, Amy Madigan, Gaby Hoffmann, Ray Liotta, Timothy Busfield, James Earl Jones, Frank Whaley, and Burt Lancaster in his last film appearance.
Field of Dreams was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Music, Original Score, Best Picture and Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium.
Plot
Ray Kinsella (Kevin Costner) is a novice farmer who lives in rural Iowa with his wife, Annie (Amy Madigan), and their young daughter Karin (Gaby Hoffmann).
Discussion
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Quotations
All his life, Ray Kinsella was searching for his dreams. Then one day, his dreams came looking for him.
If I'd only gotten to be a doctor for five minutes... now that would have been a tragedy.
If you believe the impossible, the incredible can come true.
It was like coming this close to your dreams... and then having them brush past you like strangers in a crowd.
It's okay, honey. I... I was just talking to the cornfield.
Now I know what everybody's purpose here is... except mine.
Encyclopedia
Field of Dreams is a 1989 American fantasy/drama film, directed and adapted by Phil Alden Robinson from the novel Shoeless Joe Jackson Comes to Iowa by W. P. Kinsella. The movie stars Kevin Costner, Amy Madigan, Gaby Hoffmann, Ray Liotta, Timothy Busfield, James Earl Jones, Frank Whaley, and Burt Lancaster in his last film appearance.
Field of Dreams was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Music, Original Score, Best Picture and Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium.
Taglines
- All his life, Ray Kinsella was searching for his dreams. Then, one day, his dreams came looking for him.
- If you believe the impossible, the incredible can happen.
Plot
Ray Kinsella (Kevin Costner) is a novice farmer who lives in rural Iowa with his wife, Annie (Amy Madigan), and their young daughter Karin (Gaby Hoffmann). Ray's deceased father, John Kinsella (Dwier Brown), loved baseball, the Chicago White Sox, and Shoeless Joe Jackson (Ray Liotta), who was banned from baseball for his part in throwing the 1919 World Series. To Ray, his father seemed "worn down" by life, an old man before his time.
While walking through his cornfield, Ray hears a voice whisper, "If you build it, he will come", and sees a vision of a baseball field. Annie is skeptical, but supportive, as she tells him to follow his vision. Ray plows under his corn crop - to the amazement of his neighbors - and builds the field as requested, hoping to find out what will happen. He waits all year, but nothing happens; dejected and confused, Ray retains the ballfield for the next growing season.
One night the next summer, as Ray and Annie are debating planting corn in the ballfield in order to stay financially solvent, their daughter, Karin, comes to them and tells them that someone is on the ballfield. An astonished Ray comes out to the field to see who it is. Ray discovers that it's Shoeless Joe Jackson. Ray hits some balls to Shoeless Joe and pitches to him. Joe is thrilled to have a field on which to play, and asks if he can bring some friends. The next time he returns, he brings the other seven players banned in the 1919 Black Sox scandal. All of these players are long dead, but it is unclear if they are ghosts or if they have been brought back to life. Soon after, Ray is told by his brother-in-law Mark (Timothy Busfield) - who is unable to see the players - that unless he gets rid of the baseball field and returns it to farmland, he will go bankrupt. Mark is employed by the same bank that holds Ray's mortgage, and warns him that the only reason his property has not been brought into foreclosure is due to Mark's influence, out of concern for his sister.
Ray hears the voice again, "Ease his pain," which prompts him to contact 1960s author Terence Mann (James Earl Jones), who had once written about the golden days of baseball and has retreated into a life of solitude. He wrote that as a child he dreamed of seeing the Dodgers play on Ebbets Field. Ray travels to Boston with his wife's blessing to find Terence and bring him to a Red Sox game, which both he and Annie had envisioned in a dream. At the game, Ray sees a message on the scoreboard telling him to find a 1920s ballplayer named Archibald "Moonlight" Graham (Burt Lancaster). He also hears the voice once more, urging him to "go the distance." Terence initially pretends not to have seen or heard anything, but admits it just as Ray is dropping him off at his home. Terence rides with Ray to Minnesota.
Ray and Terence travel to Chisholm, Minnesota, Moonlight's hometown, to find him. At Terence's suggestion, they inquire at the local newspaper, where they are told Graham died in 1972. A confused Terence and Ray return to their motel room and discover that Terence Mann had been reported missing. Ray decides to go out for a walk while Terence phones his father, who had reported him missing. During the walk, Ray discovers that he has somehow been transported back in time to 1972. He quickly finds Graham, who has been working as a doctor since his brief time in the major leagues. When he asks why he left baseball for medicine, Graham answers that - after his brief experience in the big leagues - he couldn't bear returning to the minor leagues again, so he left baseball instead and followed his father into medicine. Ray ask Graham if he ever had a wish. Graham tells Ray that his wish is to hit the ball run through first, then through second, and slide into third and wrap his arms around the bag...safe. Ray offers to fulfill his wish but Graham declines.
Ray returns to the present day and returns, with Terence, to Iowa. On their way, they pick up a young hitchhiker, who introduces himself as Archie Graham (Frank Whaley) - the young "Moonlight" Graham. The three return to the farm, where enough players have now appeared to play regular games. Graham begins to play with the other "ghost players", who tease Graham about his youth and enthusiasm. Moonlight finally gets his chance to bat, hitting a fly ball to the outfield that scores a run, technically known as a sacrifice fly - "giving himself up" to help someone else.
Mark - still unable to see the baseball players - returns to the farm to convince Ray to sell the farm to his partners and lease it back. Karin tells her father that he does not have to sell the farm, because "people will come" and pay money to watch the ball games. Picking up on the child's comments, Terence Mann reiterates that "people will come" to relive their childhood innocence, "for it's money they have, and peace that they lack." During this soliloquy, the players have stopped their game and observe the scene with rapt attention. Ray refuses to sell.
A frustrated Mark gets into a scuffle with Ray, and they accidentally knock Karin off the bleachers. Karin lies on the ground, unconscious and not breathing. "Moonlight" Graham runs over and, after a moment's hesitation, crosses the field boundary, instantly becoming "Doc" Graham. Graham quickly recognizes that Karin is choking to death and - with two well-placed back blows - causes her to cough up the piece of hot dog that had blocked her airway. Ray realizes that Graham has sacrificed his youthful form and cannot return to the field as a player, and apologizes profusely to the doctor. Doc Graham assures Ray that it's all right, and thanks him for his chance. He walks out into the ballfield toward the corn, the players now addressing Graham with quiet, respectful voices as he shakes hands with them and pats them on the back. Just before he steps into the corn, Shoeless Joe stops him to let him know that he was a good player, finally realizing Doc's dreams. The now-subdued Mark - finally able to see the players - urges Ray not to sell the farm, and is sent inside by Annie to have a cold drink and get over his hard day.
At the end of the day, the players head for the cornstalks in the outfield. Shoeless Joe asks Terence if he will come with them. An angry Ray demands to know why he can't go. Terence admits that he had given the nostalgic interview about Ebbets Field (which he had previously denied), and realizes that this is his own path to regaining his youthful passion for writing. He persuades Ray to stay behind to take care of his family. Terence then approaches the corn and chuckles as he walks into the tall stalks and disappears like the players.
Shoeless Joe then tells Ray, "If you build it, HE will come", and glances toward a player near home plate in catcher's equipment. The player removes his mask, and Ray recognizes his father, John, as a young man. Ray assumes the voice was Joe's: "It was you." Joe assures him, "No, Ray, it was you." Joe then walks across the field and disappears into the corn.
At his wife's suggestion, Ray introduces John to his granddaughter, Karin, catching himself before telling Karin who he is, and simply introducing him as "John". They walk and talk together and then, as his father is heading toward the outfield to leave with the rest of the players, Ray asks him to have a catch, finally calling him "Dad". Father and son choke back tears and, as they have a catch, the viewer is pulled back and high above the field. A long line of cars approaches the baseball field, the trail of headlights extending to the horizon and the twilight.
Historical connections
The character played by Burt Lancaster and Frank Whaley, Archibald "Moonlight" Graham, is based on a real baseball player of the same name. The character is largely true to life, excepting a few factual liberties taken for artistic reasons. The DVD special points out that the facts, mentioned by various citizens interviewed by the Terence Mann character, were taken from articles written about the real Dr. Graham.
The author Terence Mann (James Earl Jones) is fictional but inspired by the life of reclusive author J.D. Salinger. Salinger is the author sought by the main character in the original novel. In 1947, Salinger wrote a story called "A Young Girl In 1941 With No Waist At All", featuring a character named Ray Kinsella. Later, Salinger's most famous work, The Catcher in the Rye, features a minor character named Richard Kinsella, a classmate of the protagonist, Holden Caulfield, who digresses a lot in an "Oral Composition" class. (Richard Kinsella is the name of Ray's twin brother in the original novel.)
The DVD special notes that in studying sites for filming, the producers ran across a monument in a Dubuque cemetery that listed the city's Civil War dead. One of the names was John Kinsella.
Honors
In June 2008, AFI revealed its "Ten top Ten"—the best ten films in ten "classic" American film genres—after polling over 1,500 people from the creative community. Field of Dreams was acknowledged as the sixth best film in the fantasy genre.
Locations
Except for a few location shots for Boston, notably Fenway Park, much of the film was shot in Dubuque County, Iowa, and Jo Daviess County, Illinois. The home (then and now a private residence) and field were on adjoining farms near Dyersville, Iowa. The baseball field built for the film has become an attraction with the same name. For the film's final scene, Dyersville was blacked out as part of a community event that also involved commuters to the field. the cars in the final shot were instructed to switch between their high-beams and low beams to allow for the illusion of movement.
Other places used in the film are:
- Dubuque:
- University of Dubuque- Kevin Costner's character Ray looks up information on Terence Mann in the school library. When Ray and Annie are walking to their truck Blades Hall and the Van Vliet main administration building are shown.
- Hendricks Feed. The store where Ray purchases supplies is located on Central Avenue in downtown Dubuque.
- Terence Mann's apartment and neighborhood was located near 17th Street and Central Avenue in Dubuque, although the scene is set in Boston.
- Airline Inn. This roadside motel is near Elizabeth, Illinois along US Highways 20. This is the motel where Ray and Terence stayed while traveling to Minnesota.
- Martin's gas station. The gas station where Ray gets directions to Terence Mann's place was located at the southeast corner of the intersection of W. 3rd and Locust Streets in Dubuque. The gas station has since been demolished.
- Zehentner's Sports World. In one of the scenes cut from the final movie (outtakes available in the 15th Anniversary Commemorative DVD), Ray buys equipment at a local sporting goods store and discovers its employees are the first people who don't think he's crazy. Zehentner's was located near 9th and Main, and is now closed after 60 years in business at that location.
- Farley, Iowa. The PTA meeting dealing with Terence Mann's books was at Western Dubuque Elementary/Jr. High School (now Drexler Elementary/Jr. high), in Farley.
- Galena, Illinois - Galena was used to represent parts of Chisholm, Minnesota.
- Local Dubuque attorneys Dan McClean and Bill Conzett were featured in the kitchen scene as Timothy Busfield's partners. The two lawyers, playing bankers, were the only two "bad guys" in the film.
The film used local roads quite extensively to represent the drive from Dyersville to Boston, Boston to Chisholm, and Chisholm to Dyersville, using the geographic features of the Driftless Area to represent the eastern United States. The following are some of the local roadways used:
- U.S. Highway 20 - Part of the highway between the Illinois towns of East Dubuque and Galena was used to represent the drive from Boston to Chisholm. The Citgo station where Ray and Terence stopped was along the highway west of Dubuque. When Ray and Annie are driving home from town, parts of the highway west of Dubuque are shown. the scene where Ray and Terence pick up the young Archie Graham is near the Junction of U.S. 20 and Illinois 84 north of Galena.
- U.S. Highway 52 - Parts of the highway north of Dubuque were used in the drive from Chisholm to Dyersville.
- U.S. Highway 151 - A portion of this highway that is about six miles south of Dubuque is seen in the scene where Ray and Terence are in the van and talking about Ray's father.
Other Roads:
- Interstate 90 near La Crosse, Wisconsin. Where the first scenes from Dyersville to Boston were shot.
- Huntington Avenue in Boston, near the campuses of Northeastern University and Wentworth, and the street where the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and the site of the first world series game can be found. As Ray drives along this heavily traveled road that leads into downtown Boston, he rehearses how he will greet Terence Mann.
Music
In addition to Horner's atmospheric score, portions of several pop songs are heard in the film's music track, including "Jessica" by The Allman Brothers Band, and "China Grove" by The Doobie Brothers.
In pop culture
- The film's ending is at number 9 in Channel Four's list of Top 100 Tearjerkers
- The Iowa tourism board issued a bumper sticker referencing the film. It included an outline of Iowa along with the line, used twice in the film, "Is this Heaven?"
- In the television series How I Met Your Mother, the movie is referenced frequently as one of main character Ted's favorite movies. In the episode "Ted Mosby: Architect", Robin and Ted fight over the movie, and in the episode "No Tomorrow" when Barney claims the universe is speaking to him, Ted replies "We don't have to build a baseball field do we?"
"If you build it..."
- In the episode Dukerella of the television show The Critic they use the phrase "If you build it, they will come" for the fictional film Field of Dreams 2.
- In an episode of a Christian radio drama Jungle Jam they use the phrase "If you build it we will come" multiple times.
- In an episode of the Fox Kids TV show Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles called "Meet Casey Jones" Mikey uses the phrase "if we build it we will ride" while talking about modifying an armored car.
- In Wayne's World 2, the phrase "If you book them, they will come" is frequently said to Wayne whilst he is planning "Waynestock".
- In an episode of Married... with Children, when Bud Bundy moves to the basement, he hears the voice and builds a wood structure waiting for them to come.
- In an episode of Family Guy, a voice tells Peter to build a bar downstairs.
- In the TV programme Phoenix Nights, Brian Potter, Peter Kay uses the phrase "If you build it, they will come" to justify the building of his nightclub.
- In an episode of Peep Show, Jeremy reveals to Mark that "if you build it, they will come" is his market research for the pub he is running.
- In the film The Cable Guy Jim Carrey calls out "If you build it, he will come!" when chasing Matthew Broderick in a parking lot.
- In the film The Benchwarmers Mel Carmichael uses the phrase "If you built it, nerds will come" during the overnight production of the baseball park.
- In the video game SimCity 3000, one of the headlines in the news ticker is "If you build it, he will come".
- In the movie PCU, one of the characters says, "Play Metallica, and they will come." right before being electrocuted.
- In Spaced, Daisy whispers to Tim "If we have it, they will come" in reference to their housewarming party
- In 1999, Billy Crystal performed a comedy concert in his ancestral home country, Russia. In the beginning of the video recording of the concert, he is shown in a cornfield, and hears a voice whispering to him, "If you go there, take a jacket." The cornfield itself is revealed as a small garden plot next to the swimming pool at his urban home. The voice inspires him to do the concert.
- In the pilot episode of Eli Stone, Nathan says "If you build it, he will come" to Eli, during a medical examination.
- In The Big Bang Theory episode The Jerusalem Duality, Sheldon draws up a plan to build an exact replica of Jerusalem ("Nuevo Jerusalem") in the Mexican Desert, quoting the phrase to suggest that the Jewish people will come and settle there, thus ending the Middle East crisis.
External links
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- at the Baseball Movie Guide
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