Parents' Guide to

Field of Dreams

By Nell Minow, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 12+

Baseball crowd pleaser with a supernatural twist.

Movie PG 1989 107 minutes
Field of Dreams Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

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age 10+

Based on 11 parent reviews

MrsAD
MrsAD Parent
March 3, 2023
age 12+

Something Common Sense Media Missed the Common Sense On

I’m just going to bring this up straight away…I WISH the Common Sense Media description had have mentioned that the word “masturbation” was brought up in this movie. Nowhere does it mention this in this website’s description of Field of Dreams. This was a very awkward moment when my child asked “What does that mean?” but thankfully just continued watching without waiting for an answer. Apart from that, the other words were mild to moderate & I knew they were all in this and I know he’s heard th at school so I could at least tell him not to repeat them, (which he knows anyway). If I’d known about the original word I mentioned we would have watched something else and saved this for when he’s in his teens.

This title has:

Too much swearing
2 people found this helpful.
Clax11
Clax11 Parent of 7 and 10-year-old
August 9, 2022
age 7+

Touching story about relationships uses baseball as its medium.

As long as a kid is old enough to understand some of the spiritual, emotional, and symbolic moments they are old enough to see it. There are some curse words and a drug reference, but besides that there isn't anything inappropriate. There is the concept of death, the afterlife, and a poor relationship with a parent suggested, but nothing darker or more complex than more most animated movies.
See all 11 parent reviews

What's the Story?

In FIELD OF DREAMS, Ray Kinsella (Kevin Costner) stands in the middle of his first Iowa corn crop and hears a voice say, "If you build it, he will come." He begins to understand that this means he must plow under the corn crop and build a baseball field so that Shoeless Joe Jackson, barred from baseball since 1919 and dead for years, can play on it. Ray and his wife (Amy Madigan) know this is a crazy thing to do, but they do it. And Jackson does show up, with his teammates. Jackson was the hero of Ray's father, a former minor leaguer, with whom Ray had never been able to connect. The voice speaks again: "Ease his pain." Ray comes to understand that this refers to an iconoclastic author of the 1960s named Terrence Mann (James Earl Jones), now a recluse. Ray finds him, and together they hear the voice say "Go the distance." This leads them back in time to find an elderly doctor (Burt Lancaster), who had a brief career in baseball but never got a chance at bat and they set out to find Mann.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (11):
Kids say (11):

The themes of this pleasantly satisfying movie are dreams, family, and baseball. There are echoes of Ray's father throughout the movie. It begins with Ray's description of growing up, using his refusal to play baseball as his teenage rebellion, and as a way to test his father's love. Ray tells Mann that his father's name was used for a character in one of Mann's books. Ray builds the field to bring back Shoeless Joe, his father's hero, the hero Ray accused of being corrupt because he knew that would hurt his father.

And of course at the end, it turns out that the dream all along was not bringing back the greats of baseball, but of a reconciliation with his father that was not possible before he died. "I only saw him when he was worn down by life," Ray says. His own understanding and maturity are what enable him to see his father as he really was, even before he reappears on the baseball field. Ray asks his father, "Is there a heaven?" and his father answers, "Oh yeah. It's the place dreams come true."

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about dreams. How do you know when to follow a dream that seems crazy or foolish? What thoughts go into weighing the risks of certain choices? Is there a way to know for sure whether an idea is a good one?

  • How did Ray's experience with the baseball field help him heal his pain related to his relationship with his father? What could you do to mend some family wounds?

  • What kinds of stereotypes are discussed or displayed in this movie?

Movie Details

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