I’ve got to do it.

“If you build it, he will come.”

The voice and line that transformed an Iowa farm and added another baseball-related movie to Kevin Costner’s filmography. Field of Dreams has never been high on my list of favorites due to a memory from some point in my life of it being a tad boring, but I suppose it lands on most “classics” lists. I do, however, like baseball, and I like Kevin Costner. I especially like the combination of the two. Given that, Field of Dreams gets a watch and the SMC treatment.

Ray Kinsella (Costner) hears a voice while wandering his corn field, sees a vision of a baseball field, and his wife supports the decision to invest their savings in building the field of Ray’s “dreams”. How does one get to that point in the span of one conversation? The movie places weight on the characters’ experiences in the Sixties and Seventies which must give them some ability to take things as they are. Anyway, the field goes up in what feels like the movie’s first ten minutes, and viewers just have to accept the events to that point as the baseline for realism.

**Post watching the entire movie**

Okay, I jumped to conclusions based upon incorrect memories. Field of Dreams is a good movie and deserves whatever praise is lobbed its direction. There is a moving drama of second chances, redemption, and changed perceptions wrapped in a ghost story centering around baseball. Each character has encountered regrets and missed opportunities throughout their lives up to the point of the movie occurring, which seemingly leads to the establishment of a resolution throughout the film that all opportunities moving forward will be seized, consequences be damned. The desire to seize those moments spreads with contagious ferocity from character to character, peaking at the film’s closing moments with one character venturing off into the unknown and a wide-angle shot of the Iowa countryside showing thousands taking the opportunity to witness the unknown. Why is grabbing opportunity so important? We all have dreams, and it is important to look at what we do to pursue them. The worst possible outcome from pursuing one’s dreams is the chance of failure. A failed pursuit, however, is not the end of the world as life continues and new opportunities arise.

What about the actors and actresses? Kevin Costner, per usual, rocks his role. Darth Earl Jones dominates and could, quite frankly, lend his voice to a Muppet and get it nominated for an Oscar. Timothy Busfield actually plays a well-intentioned foil which is okay; he had not been called up to the Little Big League quite yet. Amy Madigan makes me want to watch more Amy Madigan, and the perusal of her filmography provided me with another Castle Rock character insight. Lastly, Ray Liotta is supposed to play the trustworthy “Shoeless” Joe Jackson, but Mr. Liotta does not have that kind of persona. Maybe I have seen Goodfellas too many times, or maybe I think John Cusack would be a better fit. Can you portray different players in different movies about the same scandalized group? I guess I still like Ray; he can stay.

Final conclusion, Field of Dreams is a solid, make-you-stop-and-watch movie. I’m thrilled I actually took the time to watch it and watch it the entire way through; it was more than worth my time. You could say I seized the opportunity.