Old School for the New School: The Natural
Posted by Matt Rosenberg on October 16, 2009 at 8:42 am
DELICIOUS
STUMBLEUPON
REDDIT
Traitor video This post is from our friend Kyle Patterson
. Check out his review of The Natural below.
The Natural (1984)
Notable cast members: Robert Redford, Robert Duvall, Kim Basinger, Glenn Close, Wilford Brimley
Notable Awards 3 Acts of Murder download : Oscar, Best Supporting Actress, Glenn Close
This is the best sports movie of all time.
What an opening line, right? Ok, maybe I can’t put just one sports movie above all others, but if there was only room for one at the top, The Natural would most certainly be among the last debated to take the title. To this day, this film has always been a reliable supplier of goose bumps at its climax. It’s good defeating evil. It’s resilience winning out in the face of temptation. It’s the inspiring story of Roy Hobbs, baseball phenomenon, overcoming misfortune and ill will to deliver his legacy to baseball.
I’m certainly not the Roy Hobbs of movie critics, but if I was, I would be so unequivocally the best at what I did and my version of a bat, my pencil, would have “Wonderboy” inscribed on its side. In The Natural, Roy (Redford) introduces himself to the audience as just what the title would imply, a natural at his craft. After an unforgettable scene where he throws three fastballs past the fictional representation of The Babe at a train stop, he sets out on his journey to eventually be, using his words, “the best there ever was at the game”. Unfortunately, things take a dramatic turn for the worse after a regretful episode of poor decision making. Over a decade later, for what must have seemed like an eternity to our protagonist, Roy finally gets to feel the big-league dirt beneath his cleats and the lumber between his palms when Pop Fisher, the coach of the New York Knights in a role Wilford Brimley was born to play, gives him his shot. Roy wastes no time capturing the hearts of New Yorkers and instilling that edge into his teammates that takes the team from worst to first. Then it’s time to cue the goose bumps when Roy discovers a new way to create fireworks in the deciding game for the pennant in the film’s climax.
The Natural is more than a story about a great baseball player who scraped and clawed to eventually fulfill his destiny. In fact it can be argued that he didn’t fulfill his destiny as he only got to play one season in the major leagues as a right fielder. But, why is that? If there is a lesson this movie attempts to share with its audience, it’s that nothing in life is guaranteed and what you cherish most can be taken away from you at any moment. Furthermore, The Natural reminds us that those whom we love bring out the best in us even in times of diversity and hardship. Keeping these people nearby and close to the heart should be everyone’s M.O.
Best Line: Roy Hobbs: “Pick me out a winner, Bobby.”
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