Few things are debated as feverishly among movie freaks as which is the finest baseball movie. Field of Dreams, Bull Durham, The Natural and even Major League are often in the top five, although people rarely agree on which order. (For the record, the finest baseball movie yet is John Sayles’ Eight Men Out.) Of all these great movies, only Barry Levinson’s The Natural really shows an affinity for the mythology of baseball.
Robert Redford plays Roy Hobbs, an aspiring baseball player who is as proficient as a hitter as he is pitching. After bidding farewell to his young love (Glenn Close), Roy hops a train to try out for the big leagues. While on his journey, Roy meets duplicitous sportswriter Max Mercy (Robert Duvall) and a creepy (yet sexy) woman in black (Barbara Hershey), and a tragic twist of fate alters Roy’s life forever.
Sixteen years later, Roy re-emerges for a second chance. Why was he away so long? Levinson is an astute enough storyteller to avoid divulging too much too soon. Once Roy gets his chance to play, he becomes an overnight sensation and piques the interest of an eccentric and intimidating bookie (Darren McGavin), a sexy damsel (Kim Basinger), the unquestionably evil team owner (Robert Prosky) and a certain sportswriter… who remembers Hobbs from somewhere.
In the interest of brevity, I’ll list this movie’s strongest assets with a minimum of extra commentary:
The Cast – A perfect ensemble. Duvall is fantastic, as are Close and McGavin. Also noteworthy is an early (and funny) performance by Michael Madsen as arrogant outfielder Bump Bailey. Redford plays Roy as a downcast yet confident guy, and rarely has this actor seemed more at ease on the screen.
The Script – Robert Towne and Phil Dusenberry (working from the novel by Bernard Malamud) have infused this movie with wonderfully poignant and mythic sequences, such as when Hobbs is ordered to ‘hit the cover off the ball,’ which he promptly does. These larger-than-life baseball scenes are countered wonderfully by smart and crackling dialogue.
The Look –The period detail is flawless, and the baseball scenes in particular are directed with a realistic-yet-entertaining flair that is rare in baseball movies.
The Mythology – More than any other American sport, baseball is steeped in mythology. When grandfathers tell kiddies about how they saw this one player who did it all, they’re talking about Roy Hobbs – the 35-year old rookie who demolished the giant clock on the scoreboard with a mammoth homerun, the guy who hit five home runs in one game, and that player who risked his life for the love of the game and his devotion to his team.
While cynics (or non-baseball fans) may dismiss much of this movie as overly sentimental or even corny, this is a film that speaks volumes to those who love the game. And aside from baseball, this is simply a fantastic movie – a nearly perfect combination of superb acting, brilliantly sweet screenwriting and a director at the top of his game.
