This film could so easily have become 'Field of Corn'; the fact that it didn't is a tribute to the talents of director Phil Alden Robinson, and cast members Kevin Costner (as the guy who builds a baseball field and calls up Shoeless Joe, a player from the past, and eventually comes to terms with his own family troubles at the same time), James Earl Jones (as tetchy writer Terence Mann), and Burt Lancaster (as the jovial gentleman Dr Grahame).
What we have is a plot which, ok, is a bit hard to swallow - especially once a whole ghostly baseball match is created with two complete teams - but it is so well-written you don't quibble with the realities of the Kinsella's situation. It is a fairly touching film without being crushed under the sentimentality that could have so easily crept in.
What we have is a plot which, ok, is a bit hard to swallow - especially once a whole ghostly baseball match is created with two complete teams - but it is so well-written you don't quibble with the realities of the Kinsella's situation. It is a fairly touching film without being crushed under the sentimentality that could have so easily crept in.