Say He's A Loser, And Then Order Him Not To Win

Rating: 6/10 (8 October 2011)

A big, showy, flashy, museum-piece of a film--like a famous painting of a myth--that sure does leave me cold.
The film, which looks and sounds great, goes to such lengths to do up a mystery-man myth- -the stuff legend--that I find the more legendary it becomes, the more removed I become from the characters. Redford plays a fellow whose past is so hidden, and who is really only interested in playing baseball, and talking baseball, that I have no connection to him, no reason to be interested in him. I much prefer Redford with a wild side--see THREE DAYS OF THE CONDOR, or BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID--over this tight, controlled, almost robotic knight of sport. Meanwhile, much as I respect the stature of Robert Duvall, I'm a bit weary of the patented nervous laughter, or sly, knowing leer he uses to buff up a performance. Admittedly, he tries to do a lot in a few scenes, but what he does is too familiar, too obviously easy for him. The same goes for my impressions of Joe Don Baker, who sometimes strikes me as a guy slipping into easy caricature--here and in GOLDENEYE-- rather than look for the subtler shades. I guess the bottom-line is: can I tell they're acting a role.
On the flipside, people like Wilford Brimley, Richard Farnsworth, and Michael Madsen are a breath of fresh air in this puffy-shirt of a movie. Brimley and Farnsworth don't work to undermine the mythic quality sought in the film (the aspect that doesn't always impress me), but their old-duffer, regular-guy, "I say what I feel" approach keeps them down among the mortal plane with me. As for Madsen, he doesn't get to be a regular guy, necessarily, and he doesn't get to add layers--but despite that the movie desperately needed a feral, wild-card quality, something or someone dangerous and unpredictable, and Madsen provides that with his egotistical, arrogant ballplayer. The most enjoyable scene for me, the only time I didn't really know where things were going to go, was when a jealous Madsen took hold of Redford's lucky bat and wouldn't give it back.
This brings me to the overall predictability of the film; It's not that hard to see what is leading to what. Combine this with the over-the-top hitting heroics that make our star player an almost unbelievable hero, and spectacular becomes corny. And the women's roles? Three talented actresses caught in, to my mind, negligible, paste-em-on characters, with only the amazing Glenn Close having some layers, and handling them well, predictable though they are.
I would love to love this more, but it's not my thing, by show's end. Beautifully lit, gorgeous period detail, stunning cinematography--and these people kind of bore me. I guess if I were a more rabid baseball fanatic, I would treasure more The Fairy Tale Where Everything Is Just Perfect. Instead, I was all "C'mon, Madsen--slug somebody, break a bat over someone's head.".
I just wish 'Legend' didn't mean we don't get to know anything about anybody.