The Natural (1984)

☆ ☆ ☆

The Natural (1984) – B. Levinson

I never watched this back in the day and, watching now, it certainly has a dated sort of style – you can tell somehow that it’s the ‘80s even though the events depicted take place in the 1930s.  It’s the kind of film where you know that good is going to triumph over evil, that Robert Redford is definitely going to hit the home run that saves the day – and he does. It’s a picture that pretends to evoke suspense but always goes for the gratifying outcome; by the end, viewers can have no doubt that everything will work out.  In that way, it’s a fantasy film and there are suggestions that it has loose connections to the legend of King Arthur (the team is called the Knights) as well as Homer’s Odyssey (with Darren McGavin’s one-eyed bookie as the Cyclops and Robert Prosky as Hades), although the film isn’t really overt about this.  Moreover, director Barry Levinson decided to change the downbeat ending of Bernard Malamud’s novel (which I haven’t read but may have on my shelf) to keep Redford’s Roy Hobbs an unadulterated hero at the end of the day.  Or perhaps he is adulterated – we never really find out what happened in the 16 years when he didn’t play baseball (he is a star prospect in 1923 but suffers a freak event, courtesy of Barbara Hershey) and claims only to have made mistakes.  The script keeps him as a mystery and Redford plays him opaquely (and rather flatly).  Even in his relationships with Kim Basinger (evil) and Glenn Close (good) he remains distant and impenetrable (although we assume he eventually connects with the latter). Of course, this film is probably most well loved by baseball fans and a deeper knowledge of the sport and its fabled players might lead to greater enjoyment (at the allusions to real events).  As it stands, it is a bit corny, a bit old-fashioned, but you can count on an uplifting heart-warming finale.