Review of The Natural (1984) by Dan B — 23 Dec 2018

This movie is extremely b-o-r-i-n-g and I cannot understand the positive reviews -- and I usually like baseball and baseball movies! The plot makes no sense, as the Roy Hobbs character (played by Redford) wanders through a series of events that have no connection and no motivation. Robert Redford looks bored, and he is stiff and wooden in the role -- reminds me of the worse parts of his performance in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. The other top-name actors, such as Robert Duvall and Glenn Close, try their best but the script gives them nothing to work with. To make matters even works, it is two hours and 18 minutes long!!

For a good picture in the baseball genre, try For the Love of the Game (1999). It's a decent (though not great) move, but a least it has a plot that makes sense and reasonable motivations for the characters.