The Natural (1984)

Directed by Barry Levinson. With Robert Redford, Robert Duvall, Glenn Close, Kim Basinger. An unknown comes seemingly out of nowhere to become a legendary player with almost divine talent.

The Natural is a 1984 American sports film based on Bernard Malamud's 1952 novel of the same name, directed by Barry Levinson and starring Robert Redford, Glenn Close, and Robert Duvall.

Nothing was going to stop Roy Hobbs from fulfilling his boyhood dream of baseball superstardom. 14-year-old Hobbs fashions a powerful bat from a fallen oak tree. He soon impresses major league scouts with his ability, fixing his extraordinary talent in the mind of sportswriter Max Mercy, who eventually becomes instrumental in Hobb's career. But a meeting with a mysterious woman shatters his dream. Years pass and an older Hobbs reappears as a rookie from The New York Knights. Overcoming physical pain and defying those who have a stake in seeing the Knights lose, Hobbs, with his boyhood bat, has his chance to lead the Knights to the pennant and to finally fulfill his dream.

Why didn't they make a baseball picture? Why did "The Natural" have to be turned into idolatry on behalf of Robert Redford? Why did a perfectly good story, filled with interesting people, have to be made into one man's ascension to the godlike, especially when no effort is made to give that ascension meaning? And were the most important people in the god-man's life kept mostly offscreen so they wouldn't upstage him?

Golden boy Roy Hobbs meets a far different fate on the silver screen.

Randy Newman, Randy Newman - The Natural (1984 Film) - Amazon.com Music

Nineteen-year-old Roy Hobbs, a country bumpkin with a great pitching arm, is on his way to Chicago to try out for the Chicago Cubs.

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Posted by Jared Mobarak on Saturday, October 21, 2017 ·

MATT MAZUR 17 May 2007

The Natural summary of box office results, charts and release information and related links.

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