Review of The Natural (1984) by Scott K — 03 May 2008

This is one of the better films centered around baseball. Robert Redford plays a amazing ball player with vast natural talent. Before he can start his professional career, he is devastated by a tragic event. This delays the start of his baseball career for many years.

Redford gives an excellent performance as Ray Hobbs. Glenn Close and Kim Basinger give good performances as Hobbs' past and present girlfriends. Wilford Brimley plays the team's manager. It's strange to see him before he started pitching products to senior citizens on TV, but he gives an effective performance here.

Barry Levinson does an excellent job of telling this story. Levinsion has had a bit of an uneven career as a director, but this this film is among his best, placing it in the company of "Diner" and "Rain Man".

This film goes down some predictable routes, but Levison is skilled at giving the audience what it wants but not when it expects it. This allows the movie to stay out of the trap of being a pure "formula" picture.

In a time of steroid scandals in the major leagues, this movie is a good reminder of what makes baseball a great sport in the first place.