Retrospective Film Review

Field of Dreams (1989) • 35 Years Later — ghosts, baseball, and revisionist history in Reagan’s America

A farmer is inspired by a voice he can’t ignore to pursue a dream he can hardly believe, to turn his ordinary cornfield into a place where dreams can come true.

“If you build it, he will come.”

Ray Kinsella (Kevin Costner) stands stock-still in his cornfield, rigid with nerves. A disembodied voice has just spoken to him, not only distracting him from his farm work but also making him fear he’s lost his mind. As the voice persists, he’s forced to confront a series of questions: Where is it coming from? Why has it chosen him? Who is this “he” the whispers refer to? And exactly what does Ray need to build?

A baseball pitch, that’s what. After a vision of his objective is revealed to him, Ray convinces his wife Annie (Amy Madigan) to help him convert part of their cornfield into a baseball diamond. He hopes this will appease the spectral voices he hears in his head, but the purpose and…