Fantastic Baseball Movie!

Rating: 9/10 (19 July 2014)

The Natural is one of the better baseball movies that have ever been filmed. It may be sentimental to a fault and a little corny at times, but this is a sports film that one cannot resist, baseball fan or not. Plus the ending leaves an open-ended discussion to be had and one that promotes some thinking. While this is a baseball movie, I also find this to be a character movie. This movie is about the characterization of Roy Hobbs, not about how Roy Hobbs can hit home runs.
Barry Levinson's film is about a man named Roy Hobbs who has a mysterious past and came out of nowhere to help a ragtag, losing baseball team become winners. Along the way he has to encounter evil sportswriters, devilish owners, and tough managers.
This film has a large, well-known cast and all of them were excellent. Some people question the casting choice of Robert Redford and his age, but I think he did a magnificent job despite looking a lot older than the film claims his character to be. Glenn Close does a solid job as one of Hobb's love interests and so does Kim Basinger as another. Robert Duvall does an excellent job as the writer who does anything for a story.
Overall, The Natural is not only an excellent sports film, it's an excellent drama that revolves around it's characters. But of course, it's nice to see these home runs destroy items around the ballpark. This film also has a magical taste to it, which we see every time Hobbs does something special at the plate. Maybe it's the iconic score by Randy Newman, but this film has magic in the air. An incredible baseball film that makes use of all its talents. I rate this film 9/10.