This week, we lost one of recent cinema history’s great composers, James Horner. During the 1980s, Horner was the great composer, scoring countless hit films and racking up Oscar nominations for his work. One of the 10 nominations he received came for Field of Dreams, a film that has become such an integral part of the lives of many that it would be hard to say anything negative about it.
Released in 1989, Field of Dreams was an instant hit, building the myth of Kevin Costner who, like Horner, was on his own incredible streak of success at the time. Costner became akin to a James Stewart for a new generation and although he hasn’t lived up to that in recent years, he definitely was just that in Field of Dreams. The movie does play like a new version of It’s A Wonderful Life, featuring one man trying to bring his crazy dream to life while he faces financial ruin. It gets to the heart of Frank Capra storytelling, where dreams and family at the most important things in life.
The film is based on Shoeless Joe by W.P. Kinsella and stars Costner as Ray Kinsella, haunted by a troubled relationship with his now-deceased father. The only thing he had in common with his dad was a love of baseball and his father even played professionally. Ray ran from his father’s dream of his son becoming a ball player, instead becoming a family man and a farmer in Iowa even though he doesn’t know much about farming.
One night, he hears a voice that says “If you built it, he will come.” Ray then sees a vision of a baseball diamond and decides to build one, even if it does leave him in financial ruin. For months nothing happens, but eventually, the ghost of Shoeless Joe Jackson (Ray Liotta) shows up. The new field will give Shoeless Joe and his other deceased players involved in the 1919 Black Sox scandal a chance to play.
Ray continues hearing strange whispers, which lead him on a journey to find author Terence Mann (James Earl Jones). At first, Terence thinks he’s crazy, but he goes on Ray’s baseball-inspired journey that leads him back to Iowa. There, his wife Annie (Amy Madigan) is struggling keeping her brother’s bank from taking away the farm. Eventually, Ray comes back and is more determined than ever to keep the farm and bring his dream to the world.
Field of Dreams isn’t a perfect film and probably would have worked even better had director Phil Alden Robinson been more experienced. But perhaps the story needed a bit of idealism to work as a movie. You just can’t have a cynical bone in your body for this film to work. Cinematographer John Lindley even shoots the whole film as if it was a dream, adding to that ethereal feeling.
Plus, the film features some really great supporting turns that make you wonder how there were no acting Oscar nominations for them. James Earl Jones shows us what it’s like to fall in love with an idea. Burt Lancaster is simply perfect in his last film role as the ghost of a player who never got to achieve his own dreams.
Horner scored one of the film’s only three nominations (the other two were for Best Picture, oddly enough, and Best Adapted Screenplay) with a moving, unobtrusive score. Sure, it firmly plants the film in the late ‘80s, but he does reach the film’s heart. Field of Dreams wouldn’t be as ‘dreamy’ without that score.
Field of Dreams isn’t just about seeing a dream become a reality. It’s also about figuring out how to reconcile with a parent, even if they are no longer living. That’s what makes it so good and enjoyable as a pure movie. This isn’t something you need a college degree to get. Field of Dreams wears its ambitions on its sleeve. Even if you don’t get baseball, you certainly see why people will come, Ray. People will certainly come to this movie and they have.
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