great film, but not a favorite.

Directed in a fashion that suggests George Stevens on valium

It's not as much a realistic drama as it is a distillation of baseball legend. This exists in the vein of Greek heroes, Arthur's knights, and American tall tales, transported to a setting of 1930s baseball, and it succeeds wonderfully in that respect.

Over the top , but still touches 'em all......

Sometimes less than subtle, and downright shoves sentimentality down your throat, but still effective and entertaining.

One of the better sports movies out there (I'm not a huge fan of the sub-genre, generally speaking). Redford gives a competent, if underplayed performance. The cast is all strong, as is the music and cinematography (great use of slo-mos, and some really great lighting choices). I do wish they had tied up and fleshed out Robert Duvall's character a bit more. His role seems undercooked.

I don't think this is anywhere near as good as Field of Dreams or Bull Durham though. Favorite character was Wilford Brimley as the manager. It's possible that the movie fell victim to the dilemma of everyone talking it up, causing it to be a let down when I finally saw it. It does have great music. If you are a baseball fan you should see it once. My date liked Field of Dreams and thought she might like this one, but checked out quickly stating, "Wow this is really boring."

Drags a bit in the middle, but the final scene more than makes up for it.

A classic! A must-see for baseball fans and non-baseball fans alike.

The Natural is the symbol for the drama section in sports, and boy it doesn't get any better.

First off, this is a baseball fairy tale. No more, and no less. Do *not* go in expecting Eight Men Out or Bang the Drum Slowly, because this film isn't on that level dramatically. It's pretty corny on occasion, but it perfectly captures all the things that are great and majestic about baseball. "Well you're better than any player I ever had. And you're the best God damn hitter I ever saw", gets me misty every damn time. All this, and the movie is positively gorgeous to boot. See it.

An enjoyable and fun baseball movie. Though The Natural does tend to get a bit melodramatic at times I believe that when you compare it to the Disney sport films of late you'll be able to really appreciate as a high quality sports drama. Robert Redford is superb as Roy Hobbs, a man driven by the singular goal to play baseball. Plus this has some superb cinematography to boot. Whether or not you like the sport The Natural is an enjoyable film that's well worth seeing.

The definitive sappy sports movie!