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This delicate fantasy about regret and second chances casts a powerful spell that brings many grown men to tears before the credits roll.  To that effect, Field of Dreams is a beautiful indictment of the unspoken, unrequited nature of father-son relationships — the main ingredient in any male weepy. It helps that Kevin Costner is the lead.  He has an ‘everyman’ quality that allows everyone in the audience to identify with him.  And he’s surrounded by a stellar supporting cast that includes Amy Madigan, James Earl Jones, Ray Liotta, and Burt Lancaster.

The magic is aided by John Lindley, who waited for “magic hour” to shoot several scenes (that 15 minutes of the day when the sun is setting), and by composer James Horner, who largely improvised one of the greatest scores of his career.

Field of Dreams is unlike any other film I’ve seen, a quality we should always value.  It’s a brave movie that wears its heart on its sleeve and opts not to explain itself.  It also ends with a suggestion I wish more people would take to heart.  When the ghostly baseball players appear in Costner’s field, they ask if they’re in heaven.  Costner tells them it’s just Iowa, but later wonders if he’s mistaken.  What a lovely thought: that heaven is here and now.