A film version of At Play in the Fields of the Lord, starring Tom Berenger, John Lithgow, and Daryl Hannah, was released in 1991. Although Matthiessen collaborated on the screenplay with director Hector Babenco, the film is curiously uneven and lacks the power of the novel. Coolly received by both critics and audiences, it is still worth seeing, however, in that given the narrative experimentation of Matthiessen's later novels, it is the only one likely to make it to the screen.