Drama

The Natural

- He lived for a dream that wouldn't die.

An unknown middle-aged batter named Roy Hobbs with a mysterious past appears out of nowhere to take a losing 1930s baseball team to the top of the league.

Release Date : 1984-05-11

Language :English

Adult : false

Status : Released

Production Company : TriStar Pictures

Production Country : United States of America

Alternative Titles :

Cast

Character Name : Roy Hobbs

Original Name : Robert Redford

Gender : Male

Character Name : Max Mercy

Original Name : Robert Duvall

Gender : Male

Character Name : Iris Gaines

Original Name : Glenn Close

Gender : Female

Character Name : Memo Paris

Original Name : Kim Basinger

Gender : Female

Character Name : Pop Fisher

Original Name : Wilford Brimley

Gender : Male

Character Name : Harriet Bird

Original Name : Barbara Hershey

Gender : Female

Character Name : The Judge

Original Name : Robert Prosky

Gender : Male

Character Name : Red Blow

Original Name : Richard Farnsworth

Gender : Male

Character Name : The Whammer

Original Name : Joe Don Baker

Gender : Male

Character Name : Gus Sands

Original Name : Darren McGavin

Gender : Male

Character Name : Bump Bailey

Original Name : Michael Madsen

Gender : Male

Character Name : Sam Simpson

Original Name : John Finnegan

Gender : Male

Character Name : Ed Hobbs

Original Name : Alan Fudge

Gender : Male

Character Name : Al Fowler

Original Name : Ken Grassano

Gender : Male

Character Name : Boone

Original Name : Mike Starr

Gender : Male

Character Name : Doc Dizzy

Original Name : Mickey Treanor

Gender : Male

Character Name : John Olsen

Original Name : Jon Van Ness

Gender : Male

Character Name : Coach Wilson

Original Name : Anthony J. Ferrara

Gender : Male

Character Name : Bobby Savoy

Original Name : George Wilkosz

Gender : Male

Character Name : Young Roy

Original Name : Paul Sullivan Jr

Gender : Male

Character Name : Young Iris

Original Name : Rachel Hall

Gender : Male

Character Name : Pirates Manager

Original Name : Sibby Sisti

Gender : Male

Character Name : Ali's Customer

Original Name : Ralph Tabakin

Gender : Male

Character Name : Newsreel Presenter

Original Name : Edward Walsh

Gender : Male

Reviews

John Chard

@John Chard

2024-05-16

The Wonder of Wonderboy. The Natural is directed by Barry Levinson and adapted to screenplay by Roger Towne & Phil Dusenberry from the novel written by Bernard Malamud. It stars Robert Redford, Robert Duvall, Glenn Close, Kim Basinger, Wilford Brimley, Barbara Hershey, Robert Prosky and Richard Farnsworth. Music is by Randy Newman and cinematography by Caleb Deschanel. The Natural is a wistful sports movie, one that asks every person who views it to buy into the whimsy and mythologising on show. If able to do that then it's a film of beguiling beauty, awash with strength of the human spirit and of luscious technical credits. The Arthurian core to Roy Hobbs' (Redford a superb presence yet calmness personified) second chance ensures we always know this is fanciful stuff, but that's just fine, we are in Field of Dreams territory here and fans of such fare are rewarded royally. Period art design, photography and musical score are grade "A", snuggling up nicely with a support cast to Redford that is of high end proportions. If it's in you and you know what sort of film to expect, you may well, come the end, be punching the air whilst having a tear in your eye. Lovely film making. 8.5/10

Peter McGinn

@narrator56

2021-06-23

Many, many years ago when I was a bit of a sports fan, I remember reading stories about scouts who had seen athletes in the olden days like Roy Hobbs. Players who could hit a ball a mile or throw a hundred mile per hour fastball, but who never made it to the big league for some reason. But of course, this movie is based on a novel by Bernard Malamud, though there are hints of actual events here and there. It is an entertaining movie, presenting baseball as America’s game and therefore, ultimately, above corruption. It has an old timey feel, perhaps even older than the 1939 setting that is presented. The movie is less gloomy than the book, and I guess the purists don’t like that, but for me, life is gloomy enough and the mood and ending were just fine with me. (And I did read the book.) Since actual events and people from bygone days are cleaned up and mythologized for our history books, why get upset when fictional stories are purified with a rose colored lens?