Review of The Natural (1984) by Justin G — 01 Jul 2009

This is the most manipulative movie ever made. It's actually so manipulative that I actually got manipulated a little. And it's pretty impressive for a movie to just manipulate the hell out of you when you know it's happening. When the movie has Roy Hobbs (Robert Redford) hit a baseball, it's not just a hit, it's a home run, and a lot of times, it's not even just a home run (because that wouldn't be enough), it has to break something. There are also times when Roy Hobbs gets in a slump, and when that happens, there are these dramatic montages of Hobbs striking out again and again, and newspaper articles with headlines reading "The Knights lose three in a row!" So when he gets in a slump, even the dumbest person on the face of this earth will be able to figure that out. Also, there are a couple lovers in his life; the good girl Glenn Close, and the bad girl Kim Basinger. You want to know how you find out which one is good and which one is bad? Well... when Roy Hobbs meets the beautiful Kim Basinger, the manager warns him that the girl is bad luck and that bad luck follows people around. Oh, and I can't wait to tell you what happens next. The next day, Roy Hobbs gets in a hitting slump. I'm sorry, any girl who has the magical power to make a player play worse must be a bad girl. It's just a fact of life. But equally powerful is the radiant Glenn Close. When Roy Hobbs is in the middle of his slump, she stands up in the crowd with a nice white hat. The sun shines through her hat making it look like a halo. As soon as Roy sees her in the crowd, his slump ends and he goes back to hitting. Ah, the magic of a pretty woman with a halo. Oh, but wait there's more. The villains in this consist of a judge who owns part of the team, and a bookie who works with him. The judge is always in his office, and he doesn't like light to come in. (Could he maybe be duh, duh, duh.... Satan?). The bookie also has a magical eye that makes him look more villainous.

Clearly though with all of these ridiculous over-the-top scenes, it all had to be intentional, and it was actually entertaining to see what ridiculous thing would happen next. Unfortunately, because of this choice, The Natural fails to be the classic it wanted to be, and instead just becomes another throw-away inspirational story.

Robert Redford is damn good in this. He plays the soft-spoken baseball God. If someone else was in the role, the role could have just been some bland TV-movie hero, but with Redford's awesome ability, he's able to craft a character that we can sort of believe in. He's able to make all of the cheesy moments not seem so manipulative. With charm and grace, he makes this movie work... at times.

The Natural is no great baseball movie, although it really REALLY tries to be. But hey if you're less cynical than me, and you're just a sucker for over-the-top sports stories, then get ready for The Natural to manipulate the hell out of you. You'll praise it as one of the best sports movies ever!