Le champ des rêves

Let's talk about endings here for a moment (don't worry there's no spoilers here) - every minute of a film is building toward an ending, but so often films mess up all the great story they've built up in the last few minutes.

That's why I want to draw your attention to 'Field of Dreams'. I'm sure by now we're all familiar with the premise - an Iowa farmer hears a disembodied voice that says, "If you build it he will come", which in turn leads him to plow under his cornfield to build a full baseball diamond.

Many people have talked about the themes explored by this movie (and there are many - family, redemption, pursuit of dreams, etc.), or the very believable characters. All of that is great.

But what I especially appreciated about this film was the ending. Everything builds up to it, and like so many things in the film, it ends on a perfect, serene note. It would have been so easy to tack on an extra scene or two; so tempting to tie everything up with a nice bow; belabor the point; but one single shot sums everything up and fades to credits.

A crash lesson in endings done right.

This is the man's answer to Terms of Endearment, especially for those of us who are older and have lost our fathers and remember baseball together. Ladies, turn away as your guy wipes his eyes a few times. Pretend it must be seasonal allergies.

When I was a little kid, I wanted to be a major league ballplayer. I guess that's a lot of children's dreams. But I knew at about age 12 I would never be good enough for that. Eventually I became a journalist, not an award-winning journalist like Terrence Mann, but one who enjoyed documenting people's triumphs and tragedies. That's basically what "Field of Dreams" is all about for me. It features the ups and downs of life, and how we handle the good and the bad through life's journey. This is one of those movies that brings out many kinds of emotional responses as you watch it. I especially love the scene when James Earl Jones delivers his message about baseball and how it has marked the time in America. He has the perfect voice for reflecting on how baseball represents the innocence in us. I became a huge baseball fan when it was instilled in me as a 5-year-old child. And my love for this game has never wavered despite all the ugliness in today's professional game that exposes it mostly as a multi-billion dollar business where team loyalty is disregarded. When I attend a ballgame (pre Covid-19), all that ugliness is temporarily forgotten about as I "walk out to the bleachers, sit in shirtsleeves on a perfect afternoon". Many times I try to make a point of watching this movie just prior to the MLB season's opening day. I remind myself this game can represent the good in humanity despite the greediness it shows among those who run it.

When this movie came out in 1989, I drew parallels to my father that had just died. He never wanted to have a catch with me as he was too old, having me late in his life. I had twin sons in the 1980's and played ball with both of them. Fast forward to a Saturday morning July 31, 2010. RAGBRAI, the most famous bike ride in America the rides across Iowa, was starting its 7th and last day in Manchester to Dubuque, Iowa, passing through Dyersville, the location of the Field. Several of the riders stopped and we had a pickup game on the Field. I had lost one of my sons to a tragic accident the year before, and had a truly wonderful warm thought from the movie playing on the Field that my catch was not with my dad, but my son. Tears came to me and the movie did it. I still had to ride the twentysome miles into Dubuque for the finish, and my eyes were not dry on that hot morning the whole way. My son was on that Field that day having a catch with me. The movie touched so many mens' hearts. Mine came 21 years after the movie came out. To do that makes it a special movie.

Films don't get better than field of Dreams. When you got back to the late eighties and early nineties you will find that Kevin Costner was the biggest actor to employ at that time as he starred in lots of major films like Dances with wolves which of course he directed, Robin Hood Prince of Thieves, A Perfect World, JFK and Field of Dremas which I think delivers his best performance of all those films.

Costner is Ray who one day takes a walk into his corn field only to hear a voice saying 'If you build it, he will come'. This sends him crazy as it's all he can hear. He thinks on to what the voice maybe wants him to do and let's his feeling be known to his family and the only idea he can come up with is that he should build a baseball pitch in the middle of his field. He does with the backing of his family and nothing comes of it till one night somebody in a 1920's baseball kit turns up on his field out of the blue ready to play Baseball. This happens to be the great Shoeless Joe Jackson who is now dead but has come back to play the game he was once banned from playing. The story unfolds to more odd goings on and sends Ray onto a journey of self discovery with some beautiful moments ahead. Field of dreams is not a film that gets mentioned when it comes to Costner's career but I think it holds his best and most touching performance. Anybody who likes a feel good film like It's a Wonderful Life will ultimately fall in love with this film by the end as the more it goes on the more you find out why Ray was guided to build the pitch and follow the voice which he throughout the film makes no sense of what it he is looking for.

It touches you in all the places and just makes you feel good about yourself and sends an important message out about spending as much time your family as much as you possibly can til it's to late.

Trust me, you cannot go wrong with this film.