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Field of Dreams

I love this movie.

• Little things

- When Ray (Kevin Costner) meets the old Doc Graham, the Doc says that his wish was to have had one at-bat in the majors…stare down a pitcher…turn a double into a triple…dive into the bag with a thud and get covered in dirt. But when the young Archie Graham plays with the greats of baseball past, he gets an at-bat, stares down a pitcher…but then hits a sacrifice. Why doesn’t the movie complete his wish? Why doesn’t he turn a double into a triple? Ray gets his wish to see his father again. Terence Mann gets his wish (though he doesn’t seek it) to be inspired again and write. But Doc’s wish comes only half true. Strange.

You can argue that the young Archie Graham’s game is not in the majors and that he “sacrifices” his real wish (assuming he’d become a pro player) to save Ray’s daughter. I’ll counter that by pointing out Archie’s nod to Ray when he gets back to the bench after the sac fly; Archie knows he’s a ghost (or whatever you want to call him). Same as when everyone looks to him to save Ray’s daughter- they all know crossing the line means not coming back. So the young Archie is not really the Doc living his life again. He’s a ghost who gets the chance to fulfill a wish and save a girl’s life. So, again, why doesn’t he get the full wish?

- The young Archie Graham turns into old Doc Graham in order to rescue Ray’s daughter. But all he does is realize she is choking on the hotdog. Yes, he saves her life, but someone else could’ve noticed and helped her. What I really mean is that she should suffer from something more serious so that Doc could do something more doctorly in order to save her life. That would be a more worthy sacrifice considering he loses his chance to play again once he becomes the Doc.

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