"At least I'm not a book burner, you Nazi cow!"

ohman. I love this movie.
although, after reading the short story there are quite a few differences. large differences.

PLOT
first off, there's a whole second plot. after the voice says "if you build it, he will come" and the field is built and everybody comes to play and it's all happy and cool! but then, WHOABUDDY...

"Ease his pain."

uhm, excuse me? where is this in the story? oh, that's right, in order to make a full movie out of a short story, you've got to add more. so, Ray Kinsella (the main guy) goes out in search of Terrence Mann, a guy who he must take to a baseball game at Fenway in order to settle something (ease this guy's pain). of course, it's not easy and he has to try a few times to get it to go down (Mr. Mann is a pretty angry guy), but it does and everything's grand. The end. but not quite. we're not going into the whole "go the distance" idea. it just gets more complicated. they go to Minnesota to find Moonlight Graham... don't ask.

also, there is a full field built.
Annie DOES call Ray crazy.
and her family actually physically tries to take the farm away from them.


POINT OF VIEW

Everything is told from a third person point of view. A third person limited though. we don't get any sort of insight into the thoughts or anything of any of the characters. we get lots of dialogue, almost exclusively between Ray and another person. this sort of dialogue makes it almost like a first person narrative. I think that in a movie, this sort of dialogue has to happen. in this case, unlike in the text, the third person is more effective than a first person would be.

CHARACTERIZATION

obviously, since this is a screenplay, all of the characters are given physical attributes. the casting though is quite good. each of the physical attributes given in the text are carried out in the movie. Most importantly, Annie and Karen are both characterized more fully. Annie is given a full personality. she's spunky and fiery and passionate about lots of things. Karen is still a quiet, shy girl who loves her daddy. Ray's father is only mentioned and there aren't many good things that Ray has to say.


SETTING

The part that follows the story completely - quotes included - still takes place in Iowa. it's in a cornfield at the back of Ray's house. but then, Ray moves to Boston to find Terrence. They go to Fenway park. Then they go to Minnesota. and then they go back home. so it jumps around a little bit from place to place, but each place has a specific reason to take them there.

THEME

theme theme themey theme.
the theme in this is not at all the same. in the story, it's all about Ray being able to do something for his father. it's all about following dreams. he builds this park to let Shoeless Joe play again. but in the movie, it's about following dreams still, but mostly being able to repay his dad in some way. namely, by bringing back his dad's hero. in allowing for this to happen, Ray finally can "Ease his pain" and restore in some way the relationship with his father.


aaaaw. =]