This Oscar-Nominated Sports Drama Turns Robert Redford Into a Baseball Hero

The big picture

• The Natural
  uses baseball as a metaphor for life choices, with an all-star cast led by Robert Redford.
• The prominent women in the film symbolize the dangers and temptations of fame along with true love.
• Roy Hobbs also forms an emotional bond with the team's batboy, showcasing the film's baseball action alongside meaningful relationships.

The best sports movies usually have very little to do with the actual competition. The game under review is used as a metaphor for life's hardships and how we get back up after being hit. Years 1984 The Naturaldirected by Barry Levinsonis based on Bernard Malamudthe 1952 novel of the same name and is the quintessential example of a sports movie that ostensibly looks like a movie about life choices. Robert Redford leads a stellar ensemble cast, incl Glenn Close, Robert Duvall, Kim Basinger, Wilford Brimley, Barbara Hersheyi Richard Farnsworth.

The film was nominated for four Academy Awards, including Best Supporting Actress for Close. At the same time, Basinger and Hershey stand out in one of the best-acted films of the decade. Hershey may be the most fascinating as the unstable young woman who changes the course of history, but she is the victim of insufficient screen time for a nomination. In addition to being a veritable who's who of '80s performers, Levinson delivers flawless pacing and cinematography. Caleb Deschanel he was also recognized by the Academy for his beautiful work. The film challenges audiences to look at America's pastime in a way they've never seen before or since. This includes the magnificent Field of Dreamsstarring Kevin Costnerwhich debuted five years later.

What is 'The Natural' about?

Redford plays Roy Hobbs, a tough young farmer in the 1910s whose innate ability to play baseball leads to an unlikely meteoric rise from the rural Midwest to the big city of Chicago for a tryout with the Cubs. He has already beaten the great Babe Ruth (called The Whammer in the movie and played by Joe Don Baker) with a blistering fastball, so it seems inevitable that he'll transition to the Major Leagues smoothly. But the naive, wide-eyed boy from Nebraska quickly learns that not all the attention he's getting is good.

When a beautiful but unstable young woman (Hershey) hooks him up for a romantic date, he inexplicably shoots the young ballplayer and then jumps to his death from his hotel room window. His road to baseball superstardom is derailed as he barely escapes with his life. Hobbs spends the next sixteen years trying to get back to the big leagues. When he shows up to the New York Cavaliers dugout for a second chance at glory, he's an older, wiser man trying to salvage what he can of limitless potential. Along the way, Roy will meet many good and bad people as he tries to navigate life while playing the game he loves, even though it might kill him.

The featured women of 'The Natural' each symbolize something different

Redford, Duvall (as sportswriter Max Mercy) and Brimley (as head coach Pop Fisher) are terrific as the leading man The Natural, but the outstanding turns of the players who come in and out of Roy's life make the film dynamic. Each represents a unique element of the story that determines what Roy values ​​in himself. Hershey symbolizes the dangerous and unstable side of new fame and the pitfalls that come with it. Basinger as Merno Paris is the equally dangerous element of the glamor and sexual temptation that go hand in hand with being a star in the big city. As the ultimate neo-noir femme fatale, she also represents the fine line between love and lust that can deceive people who want and need a solid partner in this difficult world. The only sane, good woman with no hidden agenda is his former flame from Nebraska, Iris. She and Roy meet again in New York. Despite her reluctance to get close to him again and the fact that they have a teenage boy together that he doesn't know, Iris is genuine in her feelings for the slugger and is both a grounded force and a moral compass for good. Close is perfect in her portrayal of the role.

Roy Hobbs shares an emotional bond with the team's Batboy in 'The Natural'

For all the excellent performances from the cast, there is exciting baseball action and interpersonal relationships between the cast and crew. Roy entrusts his magical bat, “Wonderboy,” which he carved out of a split oak tree, to a young batboy named Bobby Savoy (George Wilkosz). Roy carries her around in a case like a teddy bear, and the bond she forms with the young, shocked boy is the film's strongest camp relationship. Roy sees himself in the boy and tries to be a good role model for him. The best sequence in the film that still gives chills is the mammoth home run at the end of the game that Roy hits in the light standard even though he is bleeding from the same gunshot wound he suffered sixteen years earlier. Redford brings a strange and realistic physicality and athleticism to Hobbs, something that doesn't come easily to most actors.

As sparks from the light bulbs rain down on Roy and his teammates as he rounds the bases, the look of wonder on Bobby's face is an image you'll never forget. For those who play, have played, or have been dazzled by the singularity of “that moment” in sports, it transports the viewer into the majestic nature of America's greatest pastime and how it can be used as a fascinating metaphor for ups and downs of real life. The unforgettable score and mesmerizing special effects make it one of the best sports sequences ever captured on film. The Natural Robert Redford may be a superhero in the title role, but it's also the efforts of the director, editor, and the rest of the versatile cast that come together perfectly to smash a baseball-era grand slam of a piece. .

The Natural is currently available to rent or buy on Prime Video in the US

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