Baseball Evokes A Bittersweet Recollection Of Our Accomplishments, Everybody Knows That!!

Rating: 10/10 (30 March 2008)

The challenges we face with our lives are so often times metaphorically relegated to the game of baseball... Baseball has always been a somber analogy of the ups and downs in our precarious existence.. This nineteenth century pastime, which evolved as a criteria for success and failure, has cultivated itself as an American ideology that reflects our fortitude as United States citizens!! This embodiment of winning and losing is the key element that made the movie "The Natural" so painstakingly identifiable!! Barry Levensen directs this film, for me, that is enough to categorize "The Natural" as one of the best movies anyone will ever see!! "Diner", which was directed by Barry Levensen, is one of my favorite movies of all time... Of course, "Rain Man" is his prize piece, "Rain Man" won the academy award for best picture in 1988!! "The Natural" is a film which garners a heartfelt empathy from the movie audience to understand Robert Redford's character's desire to prove his ability ,and reaffirm his coveted achievements to himself and to everyone around him!! Robert Redford stars in this movie, and like so many of Redford's films, the fervor to take his emotions seriously is always a critical component to justifying his comprehensive endeavors!! Robert Redford is very believable in this film, and his interpretation of peculiar occurrences, and flagrant human shortcomings, manifest themselves in a way which leaves an indelible impact on the movie audience!! I have embraced baseball as a kindred spirit, and not just a recreational hobby, that is why I love this movie!! Kim Bassinger is so incredibly beautiful in this film, and it stands to reason that Robert Redford perceives her beauty to be almost hypnotic!! Glen Close plays a succor of spiritual enlightenment for Redford, as the two of them commiserate, and engage in the intellectual luxury of delving into an onslaught of perplexing questions which require definitive answers!! For his own edification, Redford must resolve every issue in this film through the personally mandatory guise of going in accordance with his urges!! These instincts necessitate his utterly human responses!! Baseball just emerged as a cutthroat business back in the 1920's, and, suffice it to say, that subsequently, it has snowballed into a corporate nightmare of today!! Baseball has now been reduced to the clinical and callous translation of television revenue, multi million dollar salaries, and mega facilitated stadia which require subsidy by the taxpayers!! The single most poignant concept to emanate from this film "The Natural" is that an individual's accomplishments must be approved by that individual in order for them to be truly rewarding!! I found the movie "The Natural" to be a remarkable film, the acting was sensational!! Robert Duvall's role was seedy and intriguing as well!! This movie also possessed very well thought out acting performances by John Finnegan, Darrin McGavin and Jon Van Ness!! In general, Baseball parallels our national guidelines, everybody interprets so many life situations by the rule of thumb pertaining to three strikes and you're out!! The national association with baseball in this country is pandemic!! In 1984, when "The Natural" came out, people took to it, in this case, the movie audience and I were in sync!! I thought "The Natural" was a fantastic film!! I recommend to everyone that they see it!!