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The Natural

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The Natural (1984)

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83 %
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Reviews Counted: 29

Fresh: 24

Rotten:5

Average Rating: 7/10

Consensus: Though heavy with sentiment, The Natural is an irresistible classic, and a sincere testament to America's national pastime.

Runtime: 2 hrs 24 mins

Genre: Dramas

Synopsis: Farm boy Roy Hobbs (Robert Redford) is the best baseball player anyone has ever seen. His bat, handmade from the wood of a tree felled by lightning following the death of his father, is magic in... Farm boy Roy Hobbs (Robert Redford) is the best baseball player anyone has ever seen. His bat, handmade from the wood of a tree felled by lightning following the death of his father, is magic in his hands. But before his career can start, the mysterious Harriet Bird (Barbara Hershey) inexplicably shoots him, sidelining him for more than a decade. Fifteen years later, Hobbs returns to play for the New York Knights, whose coach, Pop Fisher (Wilfred Brimley), begrudgingly accepts the aging rookie as a member of the team. Pop is as surprised as the rest of the team when Hobbs knocks the ball out of the park time and again and can still play a mean outfield as well. However, when the politics of the business side of the game get in the way, Hobbs has to make some life-changing decisions. Meanwhile, he becomes involved with Memo Paris (Kim Basinger), a sultry siren with her own agenda. Glenn Close plays Iris, the hometown girl whom Hobbs left behind but never forgot. Director Barry Levinson (DINER, RAIN MAN) manages to re-create the excitement of old-time baseball while telling an all-American tale of success and failure, based on the novel by Bernard Malamud. [More]

Starring: Robert Redford, Robert Duvall, Glenn Close, Kim Basinger

Starring: Robert Redford, Robert Duvall, Glenn Close, Kim Basinger, Barbara Hershey

Director: Barry Levinson

Director: Barry Levinson

[See More Credits]

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Release:

Apr 3, 2007

No Details Exist
 
 

Reviews for The Natural

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1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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No popped-up fly doubles. Just wham, bam, home run. Get the picture?

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
08/01/08
Channel 4 Film
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Robert Redford isn't playing a 1930s baseball hero ... he's playing an instrument of God.

Full Review Source: LarsenOnFilm | comment Comment
06/09/08
Josh Larsen
LarsenOnFilm

No review available.

comment Comment
08/16/07
Cole Smithey
ColeSmithey.com

Somewhat overly sentimental, lacking the novel's subtlety, and less interesting when the action leaves the ball park, Barry Levinson's beautifully shot film is nonetheless a charming fairy tale.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
03/21/07
TV Guide's Movie Guide
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The Natural is an impeccably made, but quite strange, fable about success and failure in America.

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
03/21/07
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

I've just about had it with directors who use the mythic mode as an alibi for unshaded characterizations, simpleminded plotting, and swells of artificial emotionality.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
03/21/07
Dave Kehr
Chicago Reader
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Jammed full with cliches, The Natural never misses a chance to manipulate the audience

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
03/18/07
Christopher Null
Filmcritic.com

Let yourself go and be rewarded by the sight of a hero running home to victory through clouds of fire.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
01/26/06
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A mature and elegiac fantasy done with feeling and sincerity that really captures the mystique of old-time baseball.

Full Review Source: FulvueDrive-in.com | comment Comment
09/27/05
Chuck O'Leary
FulvueDrive-in.com

No review available.

comment Comment
06/26/05
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com

The message is: Baseball is purely and simply a matter of divine intervention. At about the 130-minute mark, I got the idea that God's only begotten son was playing right field for the New York team.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
10/23/04
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The most sentimental movie you needn't be ashamed to love.

comment Comment
07/14/04
Martin Scribbs
Low IQ Canadian

No review available.

comment Comment
02/13/04
Spence D.
IGN Movies

No review available.

comment Comment
10/26/03
Ryan Cracknell
Movie Views

No review available.

comment Comment
08/22/03
Carol Cling
Las Vegas Review-Journal

No review available.

comment Comment
08/20/03
Rebecca Murray
About.com

Though entertaining in short stretches, The Natural has no recognizable character of its own.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
05/20/03
Vincent Canby
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Sappy fun

comment Comment
03/24/03
Brian J. Arthurs
Beach Reporter (Southern California)

The cinematography is lush, the Randy Newman score is so epic that Hollywood uses it for practically every movie trailer that isn't a Chris Tucker comedy or a Shaft remake, and the period detail, and baseball scenes, are top notch.

Full Review Source: Film Threat | comment Comment
12/08/02
Brad Laidman
Film Threat

No review available.

comment Comment
10/29/02
Philip Martin
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
 
 
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