20 Most Perfect Scenes In Cinema History

Amongst male film fans of a certain age, Field Of Dreams occupies a rare place of reverence that (for a change) has nothing to do with being cool, or funny, or badass.

That’s not to suggest that women don’t love the film, of course - many do. However, this is, at its heart, a movie about a boy and his father, and by the time Phil Alden Robinson’s all-American fairytale hits the 100th minute, most of the guys you know will be muttering about “allergies”, or having “something in my eye, no seriously.”

Whimsical, intelligent, sentimental yet completely genuine, Field Of Dreams is a beautiful movie, featuring Kevin Costner in full-on Jimmy Stewart mode and a nuanced performance from Ray Liotta, seemingly cast for and against type at one and the same time.

That final scene, with the catch in the baseball field (and the catch in Costner’s voice) is as redemptive as the end of Shawshank, as cathartic as the end of Toy Story 3. Yet all it is is a crane shot circling a spotlight field at dusk, and two men trading catches as headlights queue and throng in the distance. Unforgettable.