The Natural (1984)

An unknown comes out of seemingly nowhere to become a legendary player with almost divine talent.

Director:

Barry Levinson

Writers:

Bernard Malamud (novel), Roger Towne,

Stars:

Robert Redford, Robert Duvall, Glenn Close

Nominated for 4 Oscars. Another 1 win & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Robert Redford	...	Roy Hobbs
Robert Duvall	...	Max Mercy
Glenn Close	...	Iris Gaines
Kim Basinger	...	Memo Paris
Wilford Brimley	...	Pop Fisher
Barbara Hershey	...	Harriet Bird
Robert Prosky	...	The Judge
Richard Farnsworth	...	Red Blow
Joe Don Baker	...	The Whammer
John Finnegan	...	Sam Simpson
Alan Fudge	...	Ed Hobbs
Paul Sullivan Jr.	...	Young Roy
Rachel Hall	...	Young Iris
Robert Rich III	...	Ted Hobbs
Michael Madsen	...	Bump Bailey

Storyline

An unknown middle-aged batter named Roy Hobbs with a mysterious past appears out of nowhere to take a losing 1930s baseball team to the top of the league in this magical sports fantasy. With the aid of a bat cut from a lightning struck tree, Hobbs lives the fame he should have had earlier when, as a rising pitcher, he is inexplicably shot by a young woman.

---

Plot Keywords:

baseball | baseball team | team | tree | lightning | 

---

Taglines:

From an age of innocence comes a hero for today.

---

Genres:

Drama | Sport

---

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

11 May 1984 (USA)

Also Known As:

Le meilleur

Filming Locations:

All-High Stadium - 50 Mercer Avenue, Buffalo, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$28,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$48,000,000 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

TriStar Pictures, Delphi II Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

138 min 144 min (Director's Cut)

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Loosely based on the story of Sir Percival from the Arthurian myths:

• The broken bat = the broken sword



• Pop Fisher = The Fisher King



• The team called "The Knights"

---

Goofs

In Roy Hobb's final at bat, the first pitch is called a ball by the umpire, but the play-by-play man on the soundtrack calls it a strike.

---

Quotes

Pop Fisher: I wanted to win that pennant worse than I wanted any goddamned thing in my life. You'd think I could just this once, wouldn't you? I didn't care nothing about the Series. Win or lose, I would have been satisfied.

---

Connections

Referenced in I'll Do Anything (1994)

---

Soundtracks

STAR SPANGLED BANNER
Performed by Kate Smith
Courtesy of RCA Records

User Reviews

My favorite baseball movie. Truly magical.

A wonderful, magical fairy tale, and morality play. This is the type of movie that as a new father, I cannot wait until my son is old enough to watch this with me.

I know much has been made about Redford being too old to play Roy Hobbs. But much of the story asks you to believe in incredible things, so to me, this is a minor issue.

Everything about this movie is first rate. The cast which includes Redford, Glenn Close, Kim Basinger, Wilford Brimley and a pair of terrific performances turned in by Robert Duval and Darren McGavin.

It is easy to see that all of the actors trust the material and believe in their characters.

Barry Levinson tells the story in a straight forward style, he doesn't try to build any false suspense or surprise twists. When you watch this movie you know exactly what is going to happen long before it does, but you don't care, because it unfolds intelligently and without pretense.

My two favorite components of this movie are the cinematography by Caleb Deschanel and the beautiful, moving score composed by Randy Newman. I first enjoyed Mr. Deschanel's work on "Being There", and felt Mr. Newman's score for "Ragtime" was the best score of 1981.

"The Natural" is so much more than a baseball movie. It is a story about faith, good and evil, right and wrong, fathers and sons. It is about all that is good in baseball and in life.

10 out of 10