YMMV / Field of Dreams

• Alternative Character Interpretation: The fan theory —Jossed by the screenwriter— that Terence Mann was a ghost himself, having died alone in that apartment, brought back to fulfill his dream of watching the game he loved as a child.
• Award Snub: Lost the Best Picture Oscar in 1990 to Driving Miss Daisy.
• Germans Love David Hasselhoff: Perhaps unsurprisingly for a film about tradition, family, and baseball, but the movie was also a hit in Japan, where it managed to win three separate awards for Best Foreign Language film.
• Hilarious in Hindsight: When Shoeless Joe was being adapted into film, the studio changed it to Field of Dreams for fear that people would think it was about a hobo. Director Phillip Alden Robinson, upset, called Kinsella to tell him the news, and, not telling him the new title, had this conversation:
  Robinson: They want to change the name from "Shoeless Joe."
  Kinsella: Oh that's alright, that wasn't even my title. That was the publisher's title.
  Robinson: What was your title?
  Kinsella: "Dream Field."
• Memetic Mutation: "If you build it, he will come." Although it's too often quoted as "If you build it, they will come."
• Retroactive Recognition: A teenaged Ben Affleck and Matt Damon appear as extras at Fenway Park.
• Strawman Has a Point: The closest the film has to an antagonist is Ray's brother-in-law Mark. Until Doc/Moonlight saved Karin's life, he couldn't see the ghosts. So, from his perspective, Ray—an inexperienced farmer—mowed his field to build a baseball diamond with no other means of supporting his family, is completely delusional, and has managed to pass this delusion onto his sister and niece as they are all about to go bankrupt.
• Tear Jerker: This film has often been described as one of the ultimate "guy cry" movies.
  • Ray bringing up how he and his father weren't on good terms up until the latter died. By the end of the film, Ray is finally reunited with his dad, brought back as a younger man in his prime and plays with him, making up for lost time. Doubles as a very heartwarming moment.
• Values Resonance:
  • Terrence's rant about how he led the charge for peaceful nonviolence to change the world, only to become disillusioned when "they killed Martin, Bobby, and they elected 'Tricky Dick' twice," resonates with the widespread Millennial disillusionment with the "Boomer" generation.
  • Annie's arguments against Beulah and the other pro-censorship reactionaries at the town rally fully meshes with the idea in The New '20s that fighting for the rights of free speech and positive societal change didn't end in The '60s, and still has to be fought for in the modern day. More so given the aforementioned disillusionment with "Boomers" like Beulah, who "had two Fifties and moved right into The '70s."

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