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Actors: Robert Redford, Robert Duvall, Kim Basinger
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| Review Summary and Plot Commentary about The Natural |
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Roy Hobbs (Redford) has dreamed of being a great baseball player since boyhood. His bat is made from the wood of a tree split by lightning. But on his way to try out for Chicago, Roy is inexplicably shot by a crazy woman and disabled from playing. For 16 years he languishes out of the spotlight, then is picked up by the New York Knights in the late 1930s. His golden bat knocks run after run, redeeming himself and his losing team, though business and gambling interests complicate the picture. This 1984 picture was director Barry Levinson's second feature (after "Diner," before "Good Morning, Vietnam" and "Rain Man"); mixing a little fact (various stars of the early 20th century diamond, Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Eddie Watkus who was indeed shot by a woman in 1949) and a lot of fiction (the plot is loosely inspired by Sir Percival of Arthurian legend), the film raises the sport to shiny, mythic proportions with the roseate, innocent glow of baseball's early years -- which may or may not appeal to a viewer more interested in the grit of a good game.
--David Loftus, Resident Scholar
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Roy Hobbs is a 50-year-old former major leaguer whose career was plagued by his off-field problems. Among those, he's been known to chase many different women. Fifteen years after his career ended, Hobbs wants to get back into the majors, and he makes a bat out of a tree near his home. The bat gets struck by lightning one night, and it gives Hobbs the ability to hit home runs. The most memorable homer is when Hobbs, now with the New York Knights, drives the ball so high and so far that it smashes the ballpark lights and sends sparks flying down on the fans. (I'll bet Babe Ruth never dreamed of this in his lifetime!)
--Teddy, Resident Scholar
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| Analysis of The Natural |
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Time/era of movie:
- 1930's-1950's
Kind of sports story:
- baseball
Sports story?
Yes
Job/Profession/Poverty Story?
Yes
Job:
- athlete
Main Character
Identity:
- Male
Profession/status:
- athlete
Age:
- 20's-30's
- 40's-50's
Hair color?
- blonde
- brunette (Brown)
Hair type
- (man) short/standard straight
Body type
- (man) muscular
Unclothed?
- Chest
Events of movie makes character more...
- sensitive
- happy
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
How sensitive is this character?
- sensitive to others' feelings
- middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor?
- Strong but gentle sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Average intelligence
Physique
- very athletic
Secondary Main Character
Identity:
- Female
Hair color
- blonde
Hair style
- (woman) medium/shoulderlgn straight
How much in movie?
- 20%
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
Main Adversary
Identity:
- Female
Age:
- 20's-30's
Profession/status:
- unemployed
- homemaker/wife
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- 20%
- 80%
Hair color
- brunette (Brown)
Hair type
- (woman) medium/shoulderlgn wavey
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
How sensitive is this character?
- middling sensitive to others' feelings
Intelligence
- Average intelligence
Setting
United States
Yes
The US:
- Midwest
City?
Yes
City:
- New York
- Chicago
- Boston
Misc setting
- fancy mansion
- resort/hotel
- moving train
- sports arena
- bar
Style
Accounts of torture and death?
- no torture/death
- generic/vague references to death/punishment
Movie makes you feel...
- encouraged
- full of laughter
Any profanity?
- Occasional swearing
Is this movie based on a
- book
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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