Field of Dreams: If you watch it, you will cry

Say what you like about the current state of Kevin Costner's career ("sad," "disappointing" ... "over") or the inability of today's Hollywood to put together a decent sports movie (even "Friday Night Lights" was lame). There was a time -- adapting some prose here -- when the cosmic clickers all were aligned and the universe opened up for a brief moment to show us what was truly possible.

And that was 1989's Field of Dreams, my top pick for greatest movie to watch on Father's Day. So inspiring is this movie that I'm now on my third copy of it (2 worn-out VHS tapes and now the special edition DVD).

How moving is it? When the Stuck in the 80s podcast using the infamous "Dad, wanna have a catch?" scene for an episode about guy movies, the production team - myself included - couldn't stop sobbing between editing takes.

How much of a landmark was it for the actors involved? It might contain all the best performances of each actor involved -- Costner, James Earl Jones, Amy Madigan, Tim Busfield, with the exception of Ray Liotta (whose work as Shoeless Joe is only topped by his job in Goodfellas).

Sadly, like much great work, the film was unrewarded by the industry at the time. Nominated for only three Oscars (none for acting), it came home with no statues. ("Driving Miss Daisy" beat it out for Best Picture). Even the author of the book it's based on, W.P. Kinsella, gave it a less than perfect review when asked by a Canadian newspaper for his opinion. (Somebody throw a brushback pitch his way!)

We at Stuck in the 80s would never bench this classic.
Top 5 lines from Field of Dreams (aside from the obvious "If you build it, he will come" and "Ease his pain" mantras):
5. "You know we just don't recognize the most significant moments of our lives while they're happening. Back then I thought there'll be other days. I didn't realize that that was the only day."
4. "This field, this game: it's a part of our past, Ray. It reminds of us of all that once was good and it could be again."
3. "Hey rookie ... you were good."
2. "Is there a heaven?" ... "Oh yeah. It's the place where dreams come true."
1. "Hey dad ... you wanna have a catch?"

Comments

[Anonymous]

"field of dreams" is not a baseball movie. that movie could have had soccer -- god forbid -- as the backdrop and it would have been the same.best baseball movies all came from the same era and it's a toss-up between:eight men out.major league.bull durham.the natural.

[cougarbait]

Okay Anonymous,Why the "gud", "bcos", "kinda" and total lack of punctuation?Were the extra 5 letters and a space really so time consuming that it wasn't worth writing in coherent English?And even you, spelling and grammar criminal that you are, deserve to have your own name capitalized.No wonder your stocks are at the bottom . . .

[Anonymous]

friday night lights was gud but i prefer the real stuff on any day bcos this one was kinda slowstevenwww.stocksatbottom.com

[Tonka]

One thing that pissed me off about Friday Night Lights: They changed Boobie Miles' number in the movie, from 35 to 45 (or the other way around). Why? They had an interview with the real Miles in the extras, so it's not like he didn't endorse the movie. Little things like that just dig at me. I don't know why. I do want to, however, take a vacation to Texas one day and watch a high school football game.

[Steve Spears]

The mighty Cougars of Countryside High were indeed very lame during my time. We never had a winning season. But of course, they're probably the best team in the county now. Go figure.

[Anonymous]

You played high school football and you thought "Friday Night Lights" was lame? I guess your high school team was not competitive enough....