"If you build it, he will come." That's the ethereal message that inspires Iowa farmer Ray Kinsella (Kevin Costner) to construct a baseball diamond in the middle of his cornfield. At first, "he" seems to be the ghost of disgraced ballplayer Shoeless Joe Jackson (Ray Liotta), who materializes on the ballfield and plays a few games with the awestruck Ray. But as the weeks go by, Ray receives several other messages from a disembodied voice, one of which is "Ease his pain." He realizes that his ballfield has been divinely ordained to give a second chance to people who have sacrificed certain valuable aspects of their lives. One of these folks is Salingeresque writer Terence Mann (James Earl Jones), whom Ray kidnaps and takes to a ball game and then to his farm. Another is Doc Graham (Burt Lancaster), a beloved general practitioner who gave up a burgeoning baseball career in favor of medicine. The final "second-chancer" turns out to be much closer to Ray. That "magical" field in Dyersville, Iowa still draws thousands of baseball-happy tourists each year. Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Genre: Drama
- Category Sports Drama, Americana
- Theme: Redemption, Obsessive Quests, Farm Life, Fathers and Sons, Baseball Players
- Studio: Universal Studios
- Run Time: 01 hr 46 min
- Language: English
- Subtitle Language: French, Spanish, English
- Picture Format: widescreen
- Format: Blu-ray
- Lead Actor: Kevin Costner, Burt Lancaster, Ray Liotta, James Earl Jones, Amy Madigan
- Supporting Actor: Kelly Coffield, Steve Eastin, Robert Kurcz, Mike Nussbaum, Mary Anne Kean, Lee Garlington, Larry Brandenburg, Joe Glasberg, Fred S. Martin, Beatrice Fredman, Anne Seymour, Jeffrey Neal Silverman, Charles Hoyes, Don John Ross, James Andelin, Howard Sherf, Mary McDonald Gershon, C. George Baisi, Art La Fleur, Joseph R. Ryan, Michael Milhoan, Brian Frankish, Mike Hodge, Geoffrey Nauffts, Timothy Busfield, Gaby Hoffmann, Frank Whaley, Dwier Brown, Fern Persons
- Director: Phil Alden Robinson
awards
- Nominations: Academy Awards (3)
- Nominee: Academy Awards, Best Score, 1989, James Horner
- Nominee: Academy Awards, Best Picture, 1989, Charles Gordon, Lawrence Gordon
- Nominee: Academy Awards, Best Adapted Screenplay, 1989, Phil Alden Robinson