citrin@ucbvax.UUCP (Wayne Citrin) (04/23/84)
I just saw "The Natural" last night. It's a beautiful baseball fable with mythological overtones. You can look at it as just a sappy baseball story, or as a story of a struggle between good and evil, but I found that I enjoyed it most as a depiction of baseball as a quasi-religious festival. (See the film and you'll see what I mean.) Don't expect realism in the characterizations or the situations. (That's not what legends are about.) The film is about an immensely talented baseball player in the 1920's and '30's who gets and loses his chance to make it big and then gets another chance many years later. They've changed some things from the Malamud novel, but that's all I'm saying about that. Redford gives a very reserved performance as the ballplayer, only letting us know what we need to know about the character and letting us fill in the rest. Also in the solid cast are Robert Duvall as a sportswriter, Barbara Hershey, Kim Basinger, and Glenn Close as the women in Redford's life, Richard Farnsworth (of The Grey Fox) as a coach, and Darren McGavin (in an uncredited role) as a bookie. The photography is excellent, and the baseball scenes are the best I've ever seen. The film is somewhat manipulative, but I don't mind that if I enjoy the feeling. I give this one ***1/2 (out of ****) but I think you have to be a baseball fan to really enjoy it. Wayne Citrin (ucbvax!citrin)
no5db@ihuxl.UUCP (Lance Ogasawara) (07/13/84)
Has anyone noticed some similiarities between Ryne Sandberg and the Cubs, and the movie "The Natural"?