The Natural – Review

Based on a book, The Natural is a great tale about both life and baseball, and this is coming from a non-fan of the sport. The well-acted and scripted tale covers a ton of ground and remains fully watchable today. I find a ton of sports movies to be overly corny, but this one is grounded.

Forming a perfect baseball bat after a gigantic tree is split open by a bolt of lightning is only natural, and that is how Wonderboy was born. As Roy Hobbs (Redford) returns home as a middle-aged man in 1939, he reminisces over prior life moments. He thinks of time playing ball as a kid, crafting his special bat, his father’s heart attack, a possible engagement to Iris Gaines (Close) before running off to try out for a team, and a fateful 1923 train ride with newspaper comic Max Mercy (Duvall) and Roy’s mentor Sam Simpson (Finnegan).

This trip gets interesting as the newspaper relays a story about another star athlete getting shot, and again with a silver bullet like the others. A string of athletes being assassinated? Great. Roy however is focused on his wondrous showing when the train stops and he strikes out star player and all-time hitter “The Whammer” (Baker) in 3 pitches. People will be talking about this for days to come! No, years!

Roy hops back on the train to meet fate, and winds up in the crosshairs of a dangerous person. This ends his baseball career. Bug again, these are memories of the past, as this older Roy, now almost 40, decides that maybe he should not have left his talent behind fully, despite his life trauma. Will he be able to impact a dead last ball club, the New York Knights, as their new right fielder?

This film has a fantastic cast, and the acting helps boost a good script. Redford is a wonderful lead, but the support cast are also great in their roles, even in a minor role for Barbara Hershey. The director keeps things realistic and the tone is fantastic.

The Natural is a winning tale of redemption and success for a retirement-age athlete. Such stories are unlikely and rare, yet in sports reality, that is how things often go with some of the craziest happenings playing out. Come watch the wondrous and unexpected talent of The Natural, as it is full of well-scripted scenes, great acting and exciting sports action.

There is also a director’s cut which adds about 5 minutes of additional footage.