MOVIE OF THE WEEK: THE NATURAL

The Natural (Rated PG)

1984

134 Minutes

Widescreen: 1.85:1

The difference between a good movie and a great one is simple: The good one will entertain you, while the great one will entertain and make you think. There’s more to it than that, but that’s the basis, and also what makes “The Natural” so excellent. There’s more than meets the eye in this film, and you’ll be pondering over the plot long after it’s over, I can assure you.

Roy Hobbs (Robert Redford) is a country boy, plain and simple. He lives on a farm, has a sweet girlfriend (Glenn Close), and a love for baseball. But his passions are deeper than most, and his baseball fetish grows as his chances grow to be a Major League pitcher. Traveling through America, pitching as more of a sideshow, he strikes out “The Whammer,” a Babe Ruth look-alike and his career seems to sky rocket. But Roy gets a little sidetracked. Temptations lead him down the wrong paths as an attractive girl named Harriet Bird (Barbara Hershey) stops him in his tracks. Then, once she has him in her grips, she shoots him. Hobbs is out, and we don’t see him for nearly 15 years.

Wanting to leave everything behind, Roy comes to the aid of the losing New York Knights. After some rough beginnings, they learn he can hit the ball better than anyone on the team. They start winning, Roy’s a hero, and everything looks great, but temptations are always lurking around the corner. A judge and a gambler want the manager, Pop Fisher (Wilford Brimley), off the team. But to get him fired, they’ll have to lose the pennant. So they send Memo Paris (Kim Basinger) to get Roy’s mind off of baseball and onto her.

Pop warns Roy about Memo, but they date anyway and the team starts to lose. Not only that, but Max Mercy (Robert Duvall), a sports writer, tries to create scandals about Roy. Not knowing what to do, the team plunges on, but when their next stop is in Chicago, Roy’s past looks him straight in the eye. Iris, his old girlfriend, is living there and when he sees her at the game, his batting power comes right back. Everything falls into place, and he realizes what mistakes can do to him and the people around. The only redemption he can attain is to leave all badness behind him and get a fresh start.

The morals work perfectly in this film and cleverly lock in place with baseball. However, my favorite part of the movie is probably Randy Newman’s incredible score. The movie’s theme is amazing, but the other music plays great too. Every time Roy hits the ball, the trumpets blare in triumph, and every time he does something wrong, the woodwinds sadly twist. Wilford (diabeetis) Brimley leads the pack of supporting characters, playing a great, surly manager and Robert Prosky, as the villainous judge, is Mr. Potter-esque. Caleb Deschanel’s cinematography sets the mood of the film, giving it an ageless look to match the rest of this excellent and memorable film.

Grade: A-

And that's why "The Natural" is the Movie of the Week.

P.S. Here's a couple of clips from the flick. Enjoy!