So, I’ll be honest, I was going to tell you all that I am struggling with writer’s block and that’s why you’re reading a movie review this week. But I don’t want to lie to you so let me be honest, I don’t even want to talk about the Yankees right now, let alone write about them. Instead of repeatedly venting about my team I decided this was a good time to write about one of my favorite movies of all time. It so happens to be a baseball movie so at least its timely and I think you’ll all enjoy this. Today we’re talking about Field of Dreams, Kevin Costner’s 1989 baseball classic!

This film holds meaning for so many people for a lot more reasons than just being about baseball. It’s a piece of Americana, covering our national pastime, while also having some beautiful personal moments that resonate to this day. For those unfamiliar with the plot, STOP READING AND GO WATCH, and for those in need of a refresher, let’s crash course it. Costner plays Ray Kinsella, an Iowa farmer living amongst his fields of corn with his wife and daughter. One day while tending to his crops, he hears voices in the field telling him “If you build it, he will come.” This leads Ray on a spiritual journey through baseball that sees him plough his field, build a diamond with stands and play host to the games deceased legends along the way.

Now I’ll stress again here, if you haven’t seen the movie, stop here because while that brief rundown had spoilers in it, there are plenty more where that came from. Now let’s talk about what works so well for this movie, before we get back to the plot and my favorite scenes. The film is written and directed by Phil Alden Robinson, who adapted the screenplay from W.P. Kinsella’s 1982 novel Shoeless Joe. Interestingly Robinson didn’t go on to direct many more major features following this go in the director’s chair, but he none the less did a strong job. Perhaps even more surprising is that the film was not helmed by frequent Costner collaborator Ron Shelton, who made several sports films, like Cobb, White Men Can’t Jump, Tin Cup, and Bull Durham, the latter two of which starred Costner.

With Robinson at the helm, the other most important member of the production staff, at least in my opinion, is composer James Horner. Horner contributed his musical genius to a number of top-notch films over the years including Aliens, Apollo 13, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, and many more. Horner wasn’t the first choice to do the music for Field of Dreams though, as they initially wanted the legendary Leonard Berstein to do it but he was overbooked and unavailable. It worked out for the film and Horner though as his score earned him an Oscar nomination and a piece of music that helps make this story beautifully told.

Now music is good, a talented director who can frame up a shot is almost as important as a quality script…but you need a great cast to bring it all together and we’ve got a stacked one on our hand’s folks. Let’s start with Costner, who is at this point in his career fully at the peak of his powers. He broke out two years earlier playing Elliot Ness in Brian DePalma’s The Untouchables along with thriller No Way Out and then followed it up with a legendary performance as catcher Crash Davis in 1988’s Bull Durham. Aside from his impressive dramatic chops and good looks, Costner was on his way to being known for two things, his earnest on-screen charm and a penchant for starring in sports films. From American Flyers, to Durham, to Dreams, to Tin Cup, to Draft Day and many more, Costner really is the go-to for leading a sports film in part because he was such a good athlete. While he did get a few chances to show off that athletic ability in Field of Dreams, the film is much more about his charisma as a performer as the film rests on his shoulders.

Behind Costner is a strong supporting cast, led by Amy Madigan who plays his wife Annie, Timothy Busfield who plays his doubting brother-in-law Mark, and a “pre-Goodfellas” Ray Liota as baseball legend “Shoeless” Joe Jackson. Dwier Brown, who friend of the site and podcast George Falkowski met, portrays Ray’s dad John Kinsella who is the mythical “he” the voices refer to. There is also Frank Whaley, who would go onto play Brett in Pulp Fiction, as the younger version of Archibald “Moonlight” Graham, a real player who appeared in only one Major League game hitching his way to Ray’s “field of dreams” in Iowa so he can play just one more time. But Whaley has the unique task of working in tandem with the legendary Burt Lancaster, who plays the much older version of Graham, who uses his training as doctor to save Ray’s daughters life.

But with all due respect to the legendary Lancaster, the only member of the cast we haven’t talked about is perhaps the most important. In the novel, Ray goes to find his favorite author J.D. Salinger, but the production staff decided to write a stand in character for Salinger, because Salinger threatened the film with a lawsuit if his name was used. So, they wrote the part of Terence Mann with James Earl Jones in mind, and low and behold, Jones went on to take the part! Jones was fresh off a run as the voice of Darth Vader in the original Star Wars Trilogy that elevated the brilliant stage actor to stardom, a run that essentially gave him the chance to pick any part he wanted. The legendary voice he is famous for was part to great use in the film, but more on that in a moment.

With a great cast, and a solid production staff the film needed its perfect location. The crew settled on a farm in Dyersville, Iowa, owned by a local farmer. The production staff brought in the expert team that laid the field sod at Dodgers Stadium and the Rose Bowl to lay the field out, giving the film a beautiful diamond in the middle of a cornfield. The site is still up and running to this day and you can visit it as a tourist and fan!

There is some behind the scenes trivia and lore that goes with the film, including the long running question of who the uncredited actor was, that voiced “the voices” in the corn field. Many believe Costner or Liota did the voice work, however the author of the novel the film was based on claims it was Ed Harris who played “the voices.” As for trivia, there is an uncredited appearance as extra’s by a young Matt Damon and Ben Affleck in the Fenway Park scene when Ray and Terrence take in the Red Sox and the A’s. The game the production used in the film was played on May 16th, 1988, though Costner’s game program and scorecard doesn’t matchup with the game log. It does however lead to a great interaction between Jones and Costner.

After their trip to Fenway, Ray and Terrence take a trip to Minnesota to meet Moonlight Graham’s ghost, before returning to Iowa and the Field that put them together in the first place. Ray is propositioned by his idiot brother-in-law to sell the farm and thusly the field to make enough money to keep his house since he lost money by ploughing his crops. No one wants Ray to sell, but as he contemplates it, James Earl Jones gets his moment to shine delivering one of the all-time great film monologues, which became Field of Dreams trademark scene. Jones, and by proxy Robinson’s script, do a brilliant job of conveying baseball’s place in America’s ever-changing fabric. It’s enough to give you chills as you marvel at Jones immense talent…enjoy everyone!

That ladies and gentleman is one of the truly perfect scenes in not just sports movie history, but in the entire history of cinema. I get the chills every time I hear, and I can’t help but think about it when I think about baseball and how much I enjoy it. As I said earlier, this has become the films trademark scene and its lasting impact on baseball fans everywhere is honestly hard to quantify. Field of Dreams merchandise is a budding industry in and of itself, with a few pieces even making it into my wardrobe from Baseballism. I highly recommend picking the two shirts below up!

But the reach of this scene and the film as a whole goes a lot deeper than t-shirts and hats. Major League Baseball has fully embraced Field of Dreams as one of its signature pop culture pieces since its release and made the film and its star Kevin Costner a part of some wonderful baseball moments. Costner was used to introduce “The All Century Team” at the 1999 All Star Game at Fenway Park, as the game celebrated its greatest living players on it’s Field of Dreams.

The great Vin Scully even lent his voice to the speech to help celebrate opening day nine years ago, and honestly, he gives James Earl Jones a run for his money.

All of these moments and imitations are great, but none of them can match what Major League Baseball brought to life in 2021. In the wake of the horrific COVID 19 Pandemic, baseball was looking to give the country something to celebrate and enjoy together after everything that had taken place in 2020. The commissioner was also looking for a special event to help raise the profile of the game, and so the first official “Field of Dreams Game” was staged in none other than Dyersville Iowa, between the first place White Sox and the wild card chasing Yankees. The league had constructed a Major League regulation field in the middle of the same corn field Ray did and put it right next to the diamond used in the movie. But the event would not be complete without Kevin Costner on hand to be the master of ceremonies!

The beautiful opening ceremony gave way to a classic game fitting of the venue and the moment as the White Sox walked off the Yankees on a Tim Anderson homer into the Cornfield…just too poetic a moment. The game was staged again the following year between the Reds and Cubs, and it was just as special as the first go around. Unfortunately, the league has decided to stage games on NASCAR tracks and overseas since the 2022 iteration of the game…for reasons that boggle the mind. This event should be yearly, and it should rotate around to various teams and their fans to enjoy every season.

Since I’ve gone on and on about all the things that make Field of Dreams a great sports movie, let’s get back to our title, why is it a comfort movie? It checks that box on a couple levels really. First off, the personal story of Ray wanting to build a better relationship with his father and them getting to play catch together is really touching to anyone watching, whether you can relate or not, it’s hard not to be moved by it. Second, it’s just such a pleasant watch with some great tunes and humor to complement its charming storyline. I almost drift off and forget about life for the duration of its run time. Finally, there is just something about it as a baseball fan that makes you feel warm and fuzzy. It’s not just the celebration of the games rich history by portraying the deceased legends on the field, but it’s the message of the speech that resonates. The final shot of the film, one of the best in any of its era, proves Jones right…”people will come.”

Every year we come. We come to the ballpark from far and wide, hand over the money for a ticket, for its money we have and peace we lack. It’s the warm summer day with your friends, or your loved ones, or your family, and your fellow fan cheering on your team. A cold beer in hand, hot dog in the other, and a picturesque ballpark setting to enjoy. Sure, the other sports offer much of the same tribal connection, but they don’t match baseball in the “day out” category. If you love this game as much as I do, you keep coming back to it every year, and it fills you with joy inside. Embrace that joy, make it a part of your daily ritual, make the broadcast crew a part of your family, go see other parks and don’t be afraid to root for the home team (unless they’re your rival). I’ve done it many times, and I love every trip I’ve taken, because whatever game you’re at that day or night, that is your Field of Dreams. For now the photos below will have to do until I take the drive to Dyersville myself.

I hope you enjoyed reading this movie review as much as I did writing it. Field of Dreams is special to me, and this isn’t the first time we have written about it, but I felt it deserved more of a long form story, and let’s be honest, it served as a good escape from talking about the Mets and Yankees. Those pieces will make their return though as we continue our stretch run coverage. We are also firing up our NFL coverage and College Football coverage, we’ll have predictions and picks in the weeks ahead for both, and don’t forget to stay tuned to the podcast feed! On twitter you can find Mike @Mike_Sheerin, Tyler @TMon_19 and Sean @SeanMartinNFL. Subscribe to the site by hitting the follow button in the bottom right corner and entering your email address. Check out our Instagram feed @thebroadwaybreakdownsports for special gameday and promotional content. Our podcasts are available on Spotify. Visit the Rangers Ed Shop by clicking the link on our homepage. Check out our mailbag page to join the conversation here on the site and on our partners show, The Rangers Ed Podcast! We’ll be back with more soon.