Field of Dreams
1989
**½
Director: Phil Alden Robinson
Cast: Kevin Costner, Amy Madigan, Gaby Hoffmann, Timothy Busfield, James Earl Jones, Ray Liotta, Burt Lancaster, Kelly Coffield Park, Frank Whaley
An Iowa farmer hears a voice that says "If you build it, he will come". Phil Alden Robinson's Capraesque fantasy doesn't dwell on the mystery of this message. 20 minutes in and the farmer has built a baseball diamond in his cornfield, where the ghosts of famous players come to play. I have never understood the charm of this crowdpleasing and overrated piece of Americana. The premise is incredibly silly and the film makes no attempt to explain the rules of this world. Based on W.P. Kinsella's 1982 novel Shoeless Joe.
