20 Most Inspiring Movies Of All-Time
10. Field Of Dreams
Kevin Costner was at his Hollywood peak when he made this film, a fantasy baseball drama that as much focussed on the ghosts of the past as it did on those of the present. It has been described as this generations It's A Wonderful Life and while it may not reach those giddy heights, it's fair to say that this is a film about dreaming and rebuilding the past for those that come. Costner plays Ray Kinsella a local farmer who, we quickly discover, had a poor relationship with his father.
One night in the cornfields, Ray hears a voice whisper If you build it, he will come. From there, Ray begins to see baseball players of the past including Shoeless Joe Jackson, a banned player from the 1919 Black Sox match-fixing scandal.
Eventually, Ray tracks down a radical writer in Terence Mann and the two begin a journey that will end with a baseball game and Ray being re-united with his father, the he Ray was told would come. This is a film which wears its heart on its sleeve and Costner has never been better as the mid-west Everyman who simply wants his father back.
At a moment when Ray is selfish because he hasnt been invited to play ball with the other ghosts from the past, he is told that you shouldnt expect rewards for helping others and this is why the film lasts. It's about being selfless in a time when so many others are selfish and it is about making amends for the past while not hurting those with you now. An emotional film with great performances all round.