Field of Dreams (1989)

Two Geeks and a GIT Classic Movie Reviews

The second film in our pairing honoring the late, great James Earl Jones, is also a sports film, but this time it's about baseball, and a scandal that happened just a few years after the Jack Johnson saga! Adapted and directed by Phil Alden Robinson 1989's "Field of Dreams" tells the story of Ray (Kevin Costner) and Annie (Amy Madigan) Kinsella, former hippies who have decided to spend their lives farming corn in Iowa. With their daughter Karin (Abby Hoffmann), they're making ends meet, at least until Ray hears a voice one night from the cornfield which says "If you build it, he will come." This sets Ray on a long, weird path which includes clearing two acres of cornfield to build a regulation baseball diamond. Everyone thinks he's crazy, and he himself has his doubts, until the spectre of "Shoeless" Joe Jackson appears on the diamond to play baseball again. Slowly the spectres of the 8 Black Sox, who were banned from baseball for a gambling scandal back in the late 19-teens, all reappear, to resume the game they loved. From there, Ray has to find a reclusive writer (James Earl Jones) and a baseball player who only ever had one inning in the major leagues (Burt Lancaster, in his final film performance), while still trying to figure out how to keep his brother-in-law, Mark (Timothy Busfield) from seizing his farm. And all the while, only Ray, Annie, and Karin can actually see any of the returned players. A feel-good film from the late 80s that still holds its power to charm and mystify to this day! Plus, Jeff reveals what new sub-genre of horror, and which two films from it, will make up 2024's Halloween pairing!