There's no crying in baseball.
However, when you watch a really good baseball movie, it's quite possible that it will happen.
At least once.
Which leads us to today's movie, Field of Dreams.
The last, and finest, of the baseball movies on the countdown, Kevin Costner shines as Ray Kinsella, a man who is told "if you build it, they will come", yet has no earthly idea what it is, or who is coming.
A struggling Iowa corn-farmer, Ray naturally plows half of his crop under and builds a baseball diamond on his property. The crazy voices continue to guide Ray literally across America as he finds a voice from the past, and a doctor who has passed away.
Sure, it sounds crazy on paper, but man, it sure works on the silver screen.
Pick your meaning behind the film. There are several that could be found, and all of them have merit in discussions of what makes this film tick.
I'll stick with the performances. This is Costner's finest that I have seen. For the record, Silverado and Tin Cup round out his top 3. He is pitch perfect as a beleaguered farmer who has no idea why the voices are talking to him, and even when he gives in, he still wonders, why him, and what does it all mean?
James Earl Jones brings weight and humor to his role as that voice from the 60s who gave a generation advice, then disappeared.
The icing on the cake for me though, is the story of Doc Graham. This is one of the two Kleenex moments in the film. Burt Lancaster plays the Doc, a man who never got a chance to make it in the Big Leagues, but what a difference he made in the lives of everyone he met after he became a doctor. Doc is given a chance to relive the game, but then fate steps in and Doc has to make a choice.
Yeah, it gets me every time.
It also irritates me that the parents couldn't figure out what to do, and save me some tears!
The final scene you need Kleenex for?
That would be the "wanna play catch" scene.
What kid wouldn't want the chance to spend some time with their dad, just one more time?
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