Download Free The Natural

I recently saw this film - I never tire of seeing it again - with a
friend who visited me for a weekend. He and I had played baseball
together in college, and he's as big a baseball fan as I am. But for
some inexplicable reason, he'd never seen this film, so we watched my
DVD on a Saturday afternoon.

First, it's far and away the best baseball flick, ever - not because
"Pride of the Yankees," "The Rookie," "Bull Durham," or "For Love of
the Game" weren't excellent - but because it is such a terrific story,
and because Robert Redford gives a sensational performance, and can
really look like a talented pro in swinging a bat and throwing/fielding
a baseball. (Incidentally, of the above movies, the last Costner film
didn't gain the popularity of praise of the others, but I still found
it excellent, and like Redford, Kevin can handle a bat and ball.)

Since I'd watched the film just shortly before this visit, I looked for
any details I might have missed before, instead of getting totally
absorbed by the story.

I noticed that despite his being presented as a multi-million-dollar
bookie/gambler, wagering six figured amounts (in the depression 1930's,
yet!) Darrin McGavin's "Gus." never drew the right bead on Roy Hobbs,
and seemed to have a stupidly naive perspective with regard to his
prodigious talent, and losing betting against Roy throughout.

Also, Robert Duvall's "Max," the syndicated columnist, presents himself
as a tower of virtue to preserve the integrity of the game, yet is
friendly with Gus, who is involved in bribes to players to throw games
to aid his confederate (Robert Prosky) and presumably also to clean-up
in the betting arena. Even though Duvall's character obviously is
ambitious to break the big, inside story, and is self-promoting, it
seems his character would have been a bit fairer and more discreet.

These two are still great actors, and their characters strong and
interesting, despite any such inconsistencies.

And the baseball scenes are terrific, in and of themselves, and provide
a completely authentic representation of baseball five decades earlier
than when filmed, and seven decades ago now.

Some purists have criticized the ethereal, surreal aspects in the film
as detracting from the baseball games portrayed. I disagree, and feel
that these added immensely (even necessarily) to the "story," without
in anyway detracting from the outstanding "on the field" parts of the
movie.

Like Dennis Quaid in "The Rookie," Redford was in his late forties at
filming, portraying a character about a decade younger. Like Quaid, no
problem for him; and had the character been even a few years more
junior to him, he'd have been just as believable.

This film, along with "North Dallas Forty" and "One-on-One"/"Hoosiers"
(a tie) comprise the far best films about our big-three sports. While
there have been many excellent films about baseball, football and
basketball, these are the absolute finest..

I can't ever forget the first time(s) I saw The Natural. I was a member
of
the Directors Guild of America and there was a screening at the DGA. I
love
screenings of films about which I know nothing! And at the time I hadn't
read the novel, really didn't know anything about it. I knew Barry
Levinson
and liked his work, and Randy Newman was, of course, a
god.
I just wasn't ready for it!
Tears were streaming down my face from the beginning. The music would
play
and the waterworks would commence! It felt organic, not intellectual. It
just "was". The only other film where I had that experience was, you
guessed
it, "Field of Dreams", another screening. When he asked his Dad if they
could play a little catch, I lost it. The people I was with got up and
slowly moved to other seats.
But back to the Natch. I love it when a film subsumes reality, and every
time I hear the theme at a "real" ball game, I smile.
From time to time I'll put on the DVD to watch a scene, and I invariably
end
up watching the whole thing!
If you haven't seen this film, you simply must!.