The Natural

This movie screams "America" so loud I'm surprised you can buy a Blu-Ray of it that's not made out of flag.

As every sport deserves a great comedy film, each one also needs a great drama, and for baseball, it doesn't get better than The Natural. With a great story, tremendous acting, and some of the greatest cinematography of all time, The Natural is an absolute wonder. Awesome!

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!

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

Overlong and over-serious and yet it really does, every so often, capture something strange and primal and essentially American. And, of course, that home run.

There are nice moments, and the final baseball sequence is especially well handled in pretty much every way but the rest was lazy over the top idiocy. The antagonists were as cartoonishly horrible as the villains in Major League. It betrays the drama. Several scenes are laughably awkward, specifically when Bump runs through the wall and dies allowing Roy to get the starting job. It was treated with a shrug and a goofy set of music. Nothing comes off as genuine. There's no depth.

This is an incredibly silly film that takes itself seriously. It is a piece of myth-making, set in a time where some of the greatest sport myths were created. I did like early on the film that a late-40s Redford and a mid-30s Close were playing teenagers. This is the type of film that the next 130 minutes is going to be.

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

Redford plays an unsympathetic character whom you initially want to see succeed, but eventually realize you don't really know much or care anything about him as a person. The acting by the ensemble is strong, but there isn't much focus beyond Redford in the wafer-thin story.

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.

The best there is. The best there was. The best there ever will be. This and field of dreams are the best sports movies I've ever seen

A personal favorite.

There is nothing much new here if you have seen other sports movies. The cast do a good job with the material. There are a number of slow spots in the film and the script could have used a requite. Overall this movie is a near misstep.

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.

Surprisingly corny and uneven, and not what I expected from a film that seems to be beloved by so many. The final scene is moving, even independent of the rest of the film, but it isn't worth sitting through a few hours of hokey baseball magic and subtle misogyny to get there. I'm even a baseball fan and a sucker for melodrama! I am your target audience! What happened?!

This is a good film, heartwrencing and touching at times, exiting at others. Even though I don't normally care for him, Redford gives a masterful performance. Beautifly filmed and directed. The story does drag at some points and the "fireworks" at the end are cliche, but overall a very good film.

75.4.

Yo but what about that time they literally had someone die from running through a wall.

Other than a few early scenes the performances are very solid and the film strikes a good tone balancing personal emotions, sports drama and some levity to make a film that is a very smooth watch despite being a bit long. Even if there's a bit of an underdog redemption throughline, the film takes a wider scope which makes for a more interesting film. A few of the peripheral stories feel a bit tacked on, but it all works pretty well.

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

50

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.

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

All-time classic about BASEBALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL

As close to a perfect film as has ever been made.

A

Score based on distant memory.

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

Robert Redford playing baseball should be a great movie. Something just doesn't work for me.

Directed in a fashion that suggests George Stevens on valium

If you're susceptible to the (arguable) romance of baseball. you'll probably love it. I am not. Pauline Kael, as usual, describes it perfectly: "There isn't a whisper of surprise in Redford's performance, and he's photographed looking like a wary, modest god, with enough back lighting and soft focus to make him incandescent even when he isn't doing a thing." She also refers to the goings-on, accurately, as "primordial hokum". Glenn Close should never try to play angelic.

Pretty good baseball movie. Didn't care much for the story but visually it's spectacular.

79.500

great film, but not a favorite.

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."

I was not too fond of the use of flashbacks in building the story. Like most sports stories, you know where it's going, but I still enjoyed the ride.

The official summary is misleading. Hobbs was never an "average" baseball player - that's the entire point. He didn't "come out of nowhere." He resurfaced after he'd had his bout with tragedy and past demons - another focal theme. This movie encourages people to pursue what they were born to do, wherever time and circumstance has placed them. I enjoyed the mythology, as the antiquity of baseball leaves it's past somewhat enigmatic. Not sure how I feel about Glenn "6" Close as Redford's muse.

This is how you do this movie.

Bret Hart movie. Could be a really great comedy if they changed it to basketball but with baseball rules.

An outstanding baseball movie.

My favorite sports film. The Natural has some incredible cinematography to back up an emotional story of redemption. The final scene is still the gold standard for ending a sports movie.

While this goes down easy due to smart pacing throughout and the beautifully shot finale, Redford the Messiah just doesn't sit well with me in retrospect. This guy and his bat still don't seem real, despite having spent two and a half hours with them. Also, I really didn't like how the Basinger character was handled.

Seen: 2. I don't understand the love. It's outlandish and disjointed, with little mythical magic, which is the factor that the movie is trying to sell.