If You Build It, They Will Come

Feel good movies are a difficult thing to get right. Too much schmaltz and sentimentality and the film feels too manipulative and false to make a genuine emotional connection (like Pay It Forward). Too cold and distant and the same thing happens; no magic (Forrest Gump). But if the director and writer can pitch the tone of the project in just the right way the results can be as powerful as anything put on film. There's a handful of movies that I think got this tiny sub-genre absolutely right and that includes 1989's Field Of Dreams.

Adapted from the novel Shoeless Joe by W Kinsella, it's a fable about an inexperienced Iowa farmer who hears a mysterious voice out in his corn fields which simply says, "If you build it, he will come." After the voice pays him several more visits, Ray (played by Kevin Costner) interprets the voice to mean, that if he builds a baseball field, the ghost of disgraced baseball player Shoeless Joe Jackson will appear. Not wanting to become his passionless, unimaginative father whom he did not respect, Ray builds the field over his major crop, putting his farm and his family's economic future at risk.

Writer/director Phil Alden Robinson's script is perfect, as is his finely judged direction which is warm, humorous and spine-tinglingly haunting from first to final frame. Kevin Costner, in the age before he started playing moody anti-heroes in Wyatt Earp and Waterworld, is perfectly cast as Ray, a likable everyman character who's easy to identify with since he's riddled with self doubt, humanity and a strong, inner conviction. His wife Annie, as played by the spunky Amy Madigan is adorable, playing her as a supporting, yet balanced voice of reason, rather than a nagging partner. Timothy Busfield perfectly pitches his role between caring brother (of Madigan) and villainous banker threatening to take the farm away. And Ray Liotta, as the ghostly Shoeless Joe Jackson, pitches his portrayal as someone whom you never, ever know whether he was innocent or guilty of the crimes against baseball he was accused of.

Burt Lancaster and James Earl Jones contribute stand out performances, delivering two of the most haunting, goose bump inducing speeches of the film. Jones's in particular, at the film's climactic moment, "People will come Ray", is one of my favorite moments in movies, being a powerful and moving tribute to the power of hope, optimism and imagination. Indeed, the whole end sequence as Ray is forced to consider selling the farm, save his choking daughter and say goodbye to Jones's Terrance Mann character is stunningly structured, dove-tailing the character arcs and thematic threads into scenes that possess a dreamlike quality.

Although it has fantasy elements like ghosts, time travel and mysterious voices all of that is completely underplayed leaving a down to earth, contemporary fable like It's a Wonderful Life (which is referenced early in the film). Field Of Dreams isn't a baseball film either, even though it has baseball in it. Here baseball represents a constant throughout the ages. When people talk about baseball, they're really referring to everything that's best in life, whether that's a place, a family or the values you hold dear. And the religious factor is (thankfully) completely ignored too, leaving an undefined spirituality which opens the doors for atheists ans agnostics to delve into the 'what if' fantasy aspects of the story.

The feelgood factor not only comes from the story but from the subtext as well. On the surface it's about a son wanting to reconnect with his father, having regretted not doing so while his dad was still alive. And this journey, as established in the opening montage about the history of the Kinsella family and baseballs part in that, right through to the moving conclusion that forms the spine of the film. Underneath that is a film that explored the possibility of second chances, of taking advantage of missed opportunities and of finding the courage and passion to overcome your fears and embrace your dreams. In the film these ideals are played out by Costner, Jones and Lancaster as it explores how the choices and the sacrifices we make define us and how selflessness can change the world, giving it's own reward.
In the end the film suggests that if you embrace all that's good in life and embrace your passion in life then heaven can be a place on Earth. It's a sentimental concept, but one that's handled with subtlety and sensitivity.

On a technical level John Lindley's photography is warm and inviting, James Horner's score restrained and powerful (when it needs to be) and ILM's effects work unobtrusive.

Finally, the final shot of the film is my favorite ever, for me besting E.T, Raiders, 2001 and the recent Inception. As the shot starts the film already has us exactly where it wants us wrapped up in the cathartic reunion of Ray and his Dad, represented by the powerful symbolism of them playing catch. But as the camera rises high above the baseball diamond we see the highway jammed bumper to bumper heading towards the farm. 'People will come' it's predicted and the story's final surprise is saved and sprung on us in the final few seconds. People will come indeed. It's like getting smashed in the family jewels by an enraged gorilla holding a cricket bat nail to a breeze block. Like the rest of the film, it's perfect end to a perfect story. And I don't even like baseball.