Review of Field of Dreams (1989) by Andy P — 24 Apr 2012

A very American film about the mythology of baseball in the place of American lore (although the source material came from a Canadian). The premise is kind of preposterous and in the beginning it doesn't seem to click that well, but as we meet the different characters throughout the story as Costner's Ray goes on his road trip, it begins to become believable.

I credit this largely to the amazing cast that was assembled: James Earle Jones, Ray Liotta, and Burt Lancaster were perfect! My one problem with the film was Amy Madigan's performance (although, to give her the benefit of the doubt, it might have been the writing of the character).

She seemed too 'cartoonish' to put it bluntly. One minute she was gun-ho about the idea, and the next she was skeptical. I'm not saying this couldn't be possible for a character to have two contrasting viewpoints, but it seemed to be played with no regards to the inherent conflict that should be boiling inside the character.

Not surprisingly, the film reaches it's heights when her character gets pushed to the background.