What Makes "Field of Dreams" Great?

Despite its fantastical elements and deep story roots in the history of baseball. The story of the field of Dreams and its main themes can reach just about everyone. This makes it not only one of the best baseball movies out there, but also one of the best feel-good movies out there thanks to its emotional impact.

Iowa farmer and Baseball fanatic Ray Kinsella begins to hear voices in the cornfield telling him "If you build it, he will come". Ray also begins to see visions of a baseball diamond in his cornfield and realizes the voices want him to build a baseball field so that a long passed "Shoeless" Joe Jackson and the rest of the 1919 White Sox team can play on it. With the field built, Joe Jackson and several other players began appearing out of the cornfield to play baseball. As these strange things and voices continue for Ray, he realizes that this might help him come to terms with a regret he has carried for a long time.

Many feel-good movies I have seen have made the mistake of falling into the pit of being too preachy and sappy, but that is a pit that Field of Dreams never falls into. This is thanks to a well-structured script and grounded direction by Writer/Director Phil Alden Robinson. It feels like the baseball version of It's A Wonderful Life, and I mean that in the best way. Like James Stewart, Kevin Costner does a great job creating the "Everyman" persona around Ray Kinsella, making him likable and easy to root for. Costner is also helped greatly by a solid ensemble. James Earl Jones as the reclusive writer and former civil rights activist Terence Mann steals many of the scenes he is in with his commanding screen presence and voice, and the chemistry between him and Costner makes for some of the most entertaining parts of the movie. Another standout is screen legend Burt Lancaster as "Moonlight" Graham, another former ball player who became a doctor after his brief stint in baseball. Lancaster captures the essence of an elderly man looking back at his past beautifully with how he looks back at it with more wisdom allowing him to view it more realistically.

The main theme of Field of Dreams is penance and being given a second chance at something. It presents those themes beautifully, showing how they all tie into baseball. Each character in the movie finds a way to come to terms with the past through the sport. As Terence Mann says in his great monologue, "It reminds us of all that was once good, and it could be again". It's not just black and white in its messaging either, and this is best shown with "Moonlight" Graham. When we meet Graham he seems content with his life despite not being able to fulfill his dream of playing in the majors. He tells Ray "If I'd only gotten to be a doctor for 5 minutes, now that would have been a tragedy". This idea comes back at the end when he leaves his youth behind on the diamond and saves Ray's daughter from choking. In the end, he knows that being a doctor is where he was meant to be, and this allows him to move on satisfied.

The tears the film generates at the end are well-earned with this one. It's a grand slam that hasn't lost its impact even all these years later.