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The Natural


The Natural
Meticulous direction by Barry Levinson, the limitless charisma of Robert Redford, an impeccable supporting cast, and outstanding production values work together to make 1984's The Natural, a sports-oriented fairy tale that provides consistent entertainment for most of its slightly overlong running time.

Redford plays Roy Hobbs, who we are introduced to as a child, who has God-given talent and passion for the sport of baseball but doesn't get onto a major league team called the New York Knights until he's at the age that most ballplayers retire. Of course, he turns the team around after winning over the crusty team manager, but things start to turn sour for Roy when he becomes involved with the girlfriend of a crooked bookie and his hometown girlfriend re-enters his life.

There are a couple of reasons why I refer to this film as a fairy tale. First of all, this Roy Hobbs character is imbued with something almost not of this world. This is the first movie baseball player I have seen who carries his own bat around in a case like a pool cue, a bat he carved out of a tree struck with lightening. One might think the lightening might have affected this bat in some way and in first game, he literally destroys the baseball he hit on his first time at bat. All the characters surrounding Roy in this story seem to represent classic fairy tale archetypes...the crusty manager is like the old wizard, the hometown girlfriend is like the princess, the bookie is the fire-breathing dragon, and the bookie's girlfriend is the evil queen. The film sets up an immediate air of mystery because Roy refuses to talk to anyone about his past and the final big game actually puts his life in danger and the lives of other characters in serious jeopardy, jeopardy that only Roy can vanquish.

There are even a couple of magic spells like the girlfriend standing up so Roy can see her and hit a home run. Yes, by the time we get to the climactic game, there isn't a whole lot of suspense there...there's no way Levinson and screenwriter Roger Towne would take on this incredible journey with Roy Hobbs and not have him slay that dragon. When Roy's past finally comes to light, it is a little anti-climactic, but it's a necessary reveal that sets up a lot of the dragon slaying that Roy must do before the credits roll.

The film features handsome production values including Oscar-nominated cinematography, art direction/set direction , and Randy Newman's lush music. Redford is backed by some real pros here. As always, Robert Duvall steals every scene he's in as a hard-nosed sports writer and Wilford Brimley is terrific as the team manager. Darren McGavin was appropriately greasy as the bookie as was Robert Prosky as the team owner. Glenn Close received her third Best Supporting actress nomination in a row as the hometown girlfriend. Mention should also be made of a young Michael Madsen as an obnoxious ballplayer named Bump Bailey and a terrific cameo by Joe Don Baker as a baseball legend clearly patterned after Babe Ruth. The fairy tale provides a few unexpected bumps and an air of predictability, and goes on a little longer than it should, but the fairy tale delivers the requisite happy ending.