I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Purely Joyful Movie!

Not even bad in a good way

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

I've been on kind of a baseball kick lately, and obviously, "The Natural" is going to come up. And it's a good movie, boasting some veteran talent both behind and in front of the camera. The funny thing is that it's not really about baseball, same as boxing is just a storytelling vehicle for "Raging Bull" and "Million Dollar Baby". This is really an allegory of good and evil, of honorable men and the forces that would smother them; the symbolism's painted all over the walls in this place.When I read Malamud's book a few years ago, I was blown away by the ending, one that really underlines the novel's bitterness; and that finish has no place in this film. Even still, while you know who to root for and who to despise, there are still aspects that really need to be fleshed out; Robert Duvall's character, in particular.But I'm not out to poke holes. This movie is memorable not just for the acting or Randy Newman's main theme, but for its fondness for the period. You watch this for the sun-kissed cinematography and those crucial moments when fate (t last) steps in to level the playing field.Pacing issues aside, it's a movie everyone needs to see at least once.7/10

"The Natural" is a strange move by any sense of the imagination. One minute, it can be as serious as any movie ever made. The next minute, an outfielder crashes through the wall, dies, and has his ashes spread over the field in a later game. Despite the oddities that pop up here and there, though, "The Natural" remains a classic for one simple reason: it will move you emotionally in the end.For a basic plot summary, "The Natural" tells the story of Roy Hobbs (Robert Redford), a young pitcher who seems to have the world on a string on his way to the major leagues. When a freak accident takes him out of the game for many years, though, he comes back a wily, grizzled veteran just hoping for another chance. He gets that chance with the Knights, coached by Pop Fisher (Wilford Brimley). While figures such as the team owner (Robert Prosky) and prominent sports writer Max Mercy (Robert Duvall) want to see him fail, Hobbs shows the type of perseverance that legends are made of.Like I said in the opening, "The Natural" can be a really strange movie at times. It's almost like director Barry Levinson doesn't quite understand how strange his dramatic tone shifts were as the film rolls along. While some view this as quirky and giving the movie its own style, I see it as a negative (the only reason it doesn't get my full five stars and vault into "Field of Dreams" territory).That being said, "The Natural" does more than enough things right to still remain a classic movie. Certain sequences (striking out The Whammer (Joe Don Baker), "pick me out a winner, Bobby", etc.) are now etched into iconic film & baseball lore. Then, of course, there is that ending. I don't care how cheesy you might have thought the movie up until that point was, but if that final scene doesn't move you to tears, you probably have a stone in place of a heart. When it comes to "greatest single scene in a baseball movie of all-time", Hobbs' final at-bat probably takes home the prize.One must also comment on the music of "The Natural", as that is part of the reason why it resonates on such an emotional level. I don't think I could name too many soundtracks that top this one. The main theme is now a mainstay, and it seems like all the scenes in the film are backed by the perfect instrumentals.Overall, "The Natural" is a slice of "baseball Americana", if not a perfect one. There are moments that will probably make you shake your head out of weirdness, but more often than not you will find yourself falling for Roy Hobbs and his quest for the American dream...baseball style.

I enjoy this movie whenever I see it which proves you don't need to be a baseball or even a sports fan to like this story. However I don't think the movie is about baseball. I believe it to be an allegory of America. From it's youthful hopefulness to its near death (civil war?)to its excess (eating until it (he) bursts). The movie culminating in an ever bright future while the book was decidedly more pessimistic. And with all this you can choose to ignore these subtleties and just enjoy a good story well told.

Barry Levinson's The Natural is by far one of the best baseball movies of all time (second to Pride of the Yankees (1942)) not only because the story is so extraordinary but it also feels like you are an actual character which is in fact how great this movie really is. The movie stars Robert Redford as Roy Hobbs a man who loved baseball all his life and played when he was a kid until high-school and tries to play for the Chicago Cubs at the age of 22 but before that he meets a journalist named Max Mercy (played by Robert Duvall) and a man who is called "The Whammer" (played by Joe Don Baker) and practices pitching with them. After he is done with pitching he meets a woman named Harriet Bird (played by Barbara Hershey) who at first seem like friends but after a few days she almost kills Hobbs in her apartment with one gunshot but luckily Hobbs survives and has to wait until he is 38 years old and doesn't get signed on to the Chicago Cubs but instead gets signed on to the New York Knights where he meets two managers one who's name is Pop Fisher (played by Wilford Brimley) who isn't sure at first that Hobbs would do well at his age, and another man named Red Blow (played by Richard Farnsworth) who believes that Hobbs would succeed. The screenplay to this movie is just awe-inspiring, because not only does it tell a story of a great player it also tells an evil back-story because Hobbs is being betrayed and he knows it by three people, the Judge (played by Robert Prosky), Gus Sands (played by Darren McGavin), and a girl that Hobbs was flirting with for a short time named Memo (played by Kim Basinger).The actual best supporting performance in the film didn't only come from Brimley and Farnsworth but the most inspired performance came from Glenn Close as Iris Gaines who was Roy's true love and made Roy a true natural at baseball.Though I didn't read the novel I felt as if I did while watching the movie, which I felt like I was an actual audience member at one of Hobbs' baseball games which to me pretty much explains why i think that all movie lovers should see this wonderful movie that will stay with you for a long time.