MovieChat Forums > Field of Dreams (1989) Discussion > Worth watching for non-sports fans?

Worth watching for non-sports fans?


I've never seen a baseball game in my life.

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sure. the movie really just uses baseball, or rather the love of the game, as an impetus for a man doing some soul searching and deals with various themes of family relationships and faith and what not. a lot of baseball names and terminology get thrown around, but you don't need to know any history of the game to grasp the significance of what's going on. it's a really great movie.

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>a lot of baseball names and terminology get thrown around

Like inning? I don't even know what that is.

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You don't need to know any sports terms, including inning. But if you're actually interested in what an inning is, it's a "time" period of sorts.

Baseball doesn't use a clock, so each team has 9 times or *possessions to score a run(s) before making three "outs". Each of the nine frames is called an inning.

*Possession: Baseball is unique where the defense has possession of the ball.

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Absolutely see it.

The movie is about relationships and a journey they all go on emotionally. Baseball itself is a backdrop to the characters.

Anyway, "INNING" I don't know the linguistic origin of that word but it basically means each team gets to bat 1 time....both the visiting team and then the home team. That is one "inning". So when the visiting team comes up to bat that is the "top" of the inning. The home team will pitch the ball and play defense until they get 3 outs on the other team and then they switch, the home team comes up and gets their turn to bat. That is the "bottom" of the inning.

A game is 9 innings long so each team gets to bat 9 times and each team gets to pitch and play defense nine times. The exceptions are, if the home team is winning, the game ends after the top of the ninth inning when they get three outs on the visiting team. Since the visiting team is behind after they've had their nine at bats it is pointless to play the bottom of the ninth because the home team has already won. If the game is tied or the home team is trailing the bottom of the ninth is played. Also, if the game ends after nine full innings with the game still tied the play "extra innings" beginning with the top of the 10th inning and they play until someone has a lead after an inning. Some extra inning games go only until the 10th but there have been some really long games that have gone on for 15 to 20 innings.

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Yes, it's a great film on its own merits. My wife isn't a baseball fan and loves the movie. It's a drama more than a sports film - there's not an awful lot of the game in the film. It's character driven mostly.

That being said, there is a little bit of history you should know about baseball if you know nothing about the sport. There's some exposition in the film that covers this but one of the main points is that the 1919 White Sox of Chicago took money from gamblers to throw the World Series to the Cincinnati Reds, which they did. Eight players were later identified in the fix and all were banned from the game for life, including "Shoeless" Joe Jackson, one of the best players of that era. Many people argue the lifetime banishment was too severe.

The tortured ghost of Joe Jackson is a main character in the film.

Other than that, there's nothing in the plot is about the physical game itself.



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Yeah. The movie deals with themes of nostalgia, father-son relationships, unfulfilled dreams etc

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I don't think you would enjoy this film. It might even be traumatizing for you. Avoid!

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While it's about baseball, it's also about far more than that: fathers & sons, lost or abandoned dreams regained or redeemed, clinging to one's highest ideals, what one's life is really all about, etc. If it's somewhat sentimental, it earns that sentimentality honestly. And given that current times are so much about sneering snark & adolescent posturing & glib cynicism & blind rage, it's good to be reminded of basic human decency, genuine love & compassion, and living an authentic life as best one can. It's a deeply humane movie.

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Finally saw it last night. I liked it. A bit too mushy for me but I can see why it's considered a classic. The plot is absurd on paper but I respect its ballsy premise. It doesn't get into the nitty gritty of baseball so it can be enjoyed by people from outside the USA and Japan, lol

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Yeah, it's super sentimental. Especially the score. They went all out on the feels.

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It doesn't get into the nitty gritty of baseball so it can be enjoyed by people from outside the USA and Japan, lol


And Central America!

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True dat. It's huge in Venezuela. God knows why.

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Keep your pussy ass away from baseball.
You can't handle it.

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I'm not a baseball fan. Love this movie. It might even be better than the book.

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