Rewatchables Reference

• Chris: Ray goes to Boston to meet Terrence Mann – the locks on the doors, the gun-in-the-pocket exchange, the whole chemistry between Costner and Jones.
• Mallory: Moonlight Graham crossing the line to save Karen – 'That's the emotional gut punch and high point of the entire film.' Where every theme and central tension converges.
• Bill: The James Earl Jones 'people will come, Ray' speech. Also the entire ending sequence and the catch with Dad.

• Kevin Costner's charisma – unique blend of easy, natural charisma that appeals across every demo.
• The disgruntled reclusive writer as a plot point.
• The themes of hope, purpose, faith, and second chances.
• The James Horner score – unequivocally his best. Plays for five seconds and you need to excuse yourself.
• The Annie and Ray marriage – really believable, great chemistry.
• The magic realism working seamlessly with the emotional story.

• Baseball as 'the one constant' – the James Earl Jones speech hits differently in the post-steroid era. Most baseball conversation now is about what's wrong with baseball and how to fix it.
• First 20 minutes are a little slow.
• No Black baseball players on the field – Phil Alden Robinson's greatest regret. Terrence Mann wouldn't have been allowed to play in the majors. 'Maybe get Satchel Paige. Maybe Josh Gibson wants to play here.'
• 'Made the cover of Newsweek' as definitive proof of celebrity relevance.

• Tom Hanks was originally offered the role of Ray Kinsella and turned it down.
• Jimmy Stewart was the original choice for Moonlight Graham.
• Burt Lancaster initially turned it down before changing his mind.

• Gaby Hoffmann as Karen – all-time cute kid performance, every moment is great.
• Timothy Busfield as Mark – gets the Dion Waiters Award for going all out.
• Art LaFleur as Chick Gandil – gets the Joey Pants Award. Smoking a cigarette as a ghost for 16 years.

• Original title 'Shoeless Joe' – test audiences thought it was about a homeless person.
• Nobody knows who the voice was. Rumored to be Ed Harris.
• Matt Damon and Ben Affleck were extras at Fenway Park.
• The corn grew so fast they had to put Costner on boxes.
• Don Lansing's farm became a tourist attraction: 65,000 annual visitors, sold for ~$5.4 million.
• The line drive/baseballs scene was completely unscripted.
• James Earl Jones hates baseball but was incredible in this and 'The Sandlot'.
• The final shot needed 1,500 volunteers turning car lights on and off.
• The real Moonlight Graham did play one MLB game in June 1905, not 1922 as stated in the movie.
• The JD Salinger character was changed to Terrence Mann due to fear of lawsuits.

• Kevin Costner – yes. Never been more likeable, highest likability rate across America. This sets up Dances with Wolves. There was zero backlash at this point.
• James Earl Jones – possibly. This feels like his longest-lasting, most accessible performance.
• Amy Madigan – yes, for sure.
• Iowa – hard to top literally being a stand-in for heaven.
• Baseball – possibly. End of a great decade with a slew of awesome baseball movies (The Natural, 'Major League', 'Field of Dreams'), before steroids changed everything.

• Has anyone's wife ever been this understanding? She's okay with plowing the cornfield but draws the line at going to Boston.
• Ray Liotta plays Shoeless Joe right-handed when the real Jackson was a lefty. Indefensible – they could have just flipped the film.
• The Fenway scoreboard says 10:30 PM and it's the third inning. No rain delay either.
• No Black players on the field – the movie's biggest flaw.
• Moonlight Graham already existed outside the baseball diamond as a hitchhiker, but can't go back after crossing the line to save Karen.
• Mark almost kills Karen, then comes back outside and everyone's fine with him.
• Ray never recognizes his dad during the scrimmages despite the catcher looking exactly like him.
• Professional-grade lighting and a perfect baseball field, but terrible unvarnished wooden bleachers that would give you splinters.
• Where did a regular Iowa farmer even get those lights?

• Does Terrence Mann ever come back from the cornfield?
• Who is the voice? (Still unknown after 30 years.)
• If Archie was a ghost who could exist outside the baseball diamond, why couldn't Shoeless Joe leave?
• Where do all the cars park at the end? Where are the bathrooms?
• Does Ray ever feel guilty about charging people $20 to see the field after his beautiful emotional breakthrough with his father?
• Is Terrence Mann dead the whole time? (Popular internet theory.)
• What are the ground rules of the park? What happens to baseballs hit into the cornfield?

Costner. Only Costner could have done this. The way he looks out over a twilight cornfield is not replicable. Also Tom Hanks, but Costner gets the edge.