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Plot:
From the sun-dappled heartland, a young man (Robert Redford, in soft lighting) emerges as maybe the best baseball player anybody's ever seen. On his way to the majors, he is cut down by an enigmatic b...( read more 
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Recent Reviews
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MCT:July 19, 2008Saw The Natural for the first time last week, and LOVED it!! If you have never seen it, it is a must see and you should check it out.
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MCT:July 10, 2008Barry Levinson scores a home run in this best of 1984 flick about a baseball player who returns from retirement to play the greatest American game again. Redford plays at the Oscar level.
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MCT:July 7, 2008
I enjoyed this one..,Robert Redford is a baseball player by the name of Roy Hobbs,,he leaves the sport for a while and then emerges once again..,if you never seen this I recomend you do :)
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MCT:June 11, 2008
The very best baseball movie ever. Robert Redford is the only one who could have pulled off the dynamic lead role, and he's surrounded by a fabulous supporting cast. The lenswork is too gorgeous for words. And what can be said about the score? The only word that comes to mind is iconic. It's criminal that this movie didn't win any of the four Oscars it was nominated for, but only proves that the Academy has been wrong for decades. This classic, as Roy Hobbs says in that famous final scene, is a definite winner.
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MCT:May 27, 2008
i know you tear up everytime when roy breaks his bat and tell the "pick me out a winner" then the kid stands very close to the batters box while roy takes the greatest cut in the history of basball destroying every light in the entire city "there goes roy hobbs the best there ever was"
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MCT:April 20, 2008
This is pretty good. A nice tribute to the best sport ever. I thought one scene was totally medically inaccurate though. Peptic ulcer disease doesn't result in external bleeding. I think even any non-medical person could figure that. Unless he had an entero-cutaneous fistula!
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MCT:January 24, 2008
Preface: I have not seen the original cut of this film. I have not read Bernard Malamud's novel.
I picked this up because I'm a stupid sucker for packaging and silly physical extras, and this was released with a "signed" baseball and a "New York Knights" cap. I hadn't previously expected to run for it, as I am not instantly drawn to sports films (though I usually enjoy them). I do like Robert Redford, though, and will often happily pick up a film that stars him without much thought beyond it.
Roy Hobbs (Redford) is an old man, as baseball players go, when the film opens, with him walking up into a dilapidated house that brings him back to its glory days when it was his childhood home--the lessons and wisdom from his father on how to be the best baseball player he could be--or ever. We see him carve his own baseball bat, we see the loss of his father, and then we begin to see him reminiscing about a trip that takes him into competition with Walter "The Whammer" Whambold (good ol' Joe Don Baker, reliable these days primarily as the "goofy redneck dad," but previously bringing Buford Pusser to life in the original Walking Tall) who seems to me an obvious reference to the Great Bambino, where he takes him out in three pitches. There to witness it is sportswriter Max Mercy (Robert Duvall--always a pleasure), who is astonished by the skill of this young man. Hobbs is intimidated by "The Whammer" but is drawn to a strange young woman named Harriet Bird (Barbara Hershey, not long off from The Stunt Man!) who seems intent on discovering whether Hobbs is the best ball player ever. Unknowingly, this leads Hobbs to the untimely delay of his career.
Sixteen years later, Hobbs returns to the field, this time claiming a place as right fielder for the New York Knights, a pro team under duress as ownership goes between "The Judge" (Robert Prosky, always fun, most memorable to me as Gremlins 2: The New Batch's Grandpa Fred) and coach Pop Fisher (Wilford Brimley). Between them we find Pop's niece Memo Paris (Kim Basinger) and big league bookie Gus Sands (Kolchak, the Nightstalker...I mean, Darren McGavin). Hobbs manages to prove that he is, in fact, a natural when it comes to the sport and must decide whether to use his skill to endorse Pop's eventual ownership of the team (which requires winning a pennant) or in monetary gain for himself (in helping The Judge regain complete ownership). He finds himself drawn back to childhood sweetheart Iris (Glenn Close, in a lead romantic interest role, which is not at all what I know her for) who helps him find his footing in the game.
The major criticisms levelled at this movie relate primarily to the changes made from the original novel, whether they are made because of the fact that they are changes or for their inherent nature. Generally speaking, that is, the film is considered ineffectual for being overly sentimental, sunny and worshipful of Redford. Honestly, I couldn't care less. These kinds of things rarely bother me if they are done correctly, and we're in the hands of Barry Levinson here, no slouch as a director, and actors like Redford, Brimley, Close, McGavin, and so on--they know what they're doing. I actually noticed some lines of dialogue that I instantly knew would easily have tilted into the realms of ridicule if they were spoken by mouths other than actors as talented as these. And beyond that, it's obviously acknowledged. When a lightning bolt streaks across the sky in unison with the first in-game hit from Hobbs, we know that this is mythology, legend, fairy tale. We know that the other part of that hit is so outrageous that this is not something they are intending to broadcast as reality. This film is fantasy, an endorsement of the idea of heroes and myths in the legendary sense (rather than the literal fact of how stories in mythology run, that is) and it is about one such hero, so it is re-arranged and written from what I know of the book so as to fit that intention. Randy Newman's score (he scores things?! I knew he had done SONGS for movies...how did I miss this?) is perfect for this, and I knew within moments that between Newman's score, Levinson's direction and Caleb Deschanel's Oscar-nominated cinematography, I was in for that wonderfully warm glow that comes from movies like this, that remind me of movies in my youth--so instantly familiar, so able to stretch the limits of believability almost to their breaking point to give us that heightened level of reality and the greater tension and enjoyment that come from it. I was absolutely pleased with the entire thing, and did not care one bit that it was what it was, because these people knew how to get it to that point--and of course, Redford can actually hit, and it shows. We believe those hits like we sometimes don't in film, because he was indeed making them.
Definitely one of the stronger sports films I've watched, and it's a dangerous genre when everyone boils them down to the idea of the crucial last game and the win versus the loss, an idea I've discussed before in the review for...something else, and I won't get into again here. -
MCT:January 7, 2008the score is probably the best feature of this movie. American fable or classic baseball movie, this movie just isn't down-to-earth enough. not enough depth to the plot, and Roy Hobbs just doesn't have the kind of heroic charm you'd expect from an "uplifting" story like this. too much mystery, not enough meat. despite its flaws, though, this is still a great movie about doing what you love no matter what stands in your way.
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MCT:October 24, 2007
My favorite sports movie. It's over the top smaltz, but it still brings a tear to my eye everytime. Great cast with Robert Redford, Glenn Close, Robert Duvall and more.
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MCT:October 12, 2007
Robert Redford plays mythical Roy Hobbs in this adaptation of Bernard Malamud's novel. He goes from being a hotshot prospect to being shot by a deranged woman-shades of Eddie Waitkus. After several years, he makes it to the last-place Knights. The Knights make it to the World Series despite Roy missing time due to complications from his wounds. Even though he's offered money to help throw the Series (Chicago Black Sox come on down!) he steps up and delivers a game-winning homer. Wilford Brimley plays Wilford Brimley. Robert Redford swings a bat like he's tied to a 2X4...not exactly a good thing. Overall, not that bad of a movie.
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MCT:October 6, 2007aptivating, beautifully crafted, great scenery and brilliant acting. The Illusionist had me hooked from start to finish. By far one of the better 'magician' films I've seen of late, and the ending was more than satisfactory. I watched it twice just to fully appreciate all the little details I may have missed first time round, and I loved it all the more by the end. It may have been slow in parts, but at least I wasn't left feeling confused like I was with The Prestige!Captivating, beautifully crafted, great scenery and brilliant acting. The Illusionist had me hooked from start to finish. By far one of the better 'magician' films I've seen of late, and the ending was more than satisfactory. I watched it twice just to fully appreciate all the little details I may have missed first time round, and I loved it all the more by the end. It may have been slow in parts, but at least I wasn't left feeling confused like I was with The Prestige!Captivating, beautifully crafted, great scenery and brilliant acting. The Illusionist had me hooked from start to finish. By far one of the better 'magician' films I've seen of late, and the ending was more than satisfactory. I watched it twice just to fully appreciate all the little details I may have missed first time round, and I loved it all the more by the end. It may have been slow in parts, but at least I wasn't left feeling confused like I was with The Prestige!Captivating, beautifully crafted, great scenery and brilliant acting. The Illusionist had me hooked from start to finish. By far one of the better 'magician' films I've seen of late, and the ending was more than satisfactory. I watched it twice just to fully appreciate all the little details I may have missed first time round, and I loved it all the more by the end. It may have been slow in parts, but at least I wasn't left feeling confused like I was with The Prestige!Captivating, beautifully crafted, great scenery and brilliant acting. The Illusionist had me hooked from start to finish. By far one of the better 'magician' films I've seen of late, and the ending was more than satisfactory. I watched it twice just to fully appreciate all the little details I may have missed first time round, and I loved it all the more by the end. It may have been slow in parts, but at least I wasn't left feeling confused like I was with The Prestige!Captivating, beautifully crafted, great scenery and brilliant acting. The Illusionist had me hooked from start to finish. By far one of the better 'magician' films I've seen of late, and the ending was more than satisfactory. I watched it twice just to fully appreciate all the little details I may have missed first time round, and I loved it all the more by the end. It may have been slow in parts, but at least I wasn't left feeling confused like I was with The Prestige!yhyydtytyutytyytytytytytytytytytytyty
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MCT:September 28, 2007I really love this film, it has a good story line and a nice plot that has you wondering. And I love how it was set in the pre-war 1930's and the use of the old minor league stadiums and old vintage uniforms were great!. . . It's a film not for sport fans, either!. . .
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MCT:September 3, 2007
Just an absolute classic, start to finish. Great performances from so many big names, again showing Levinson's ability to capture humanity on film. His characters are always so real, and even if his movies ever seem a bit cheesy or clichéd, it's impossible not to become emotionally attached. This movie invented the "baseball in a wheat field" shot, and it's possibly the best sports movie ever made.
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MCT:September 1, 2007
I've watched this movie 7 times and enjoyed each time, especially the end where Redford smashes the lights and has a homer.
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MCT:July 23, 2007
I was a bit put off at first because I don't care for Robert Redford, but this is simply a great sports movie. You can see where future sports movies got some of their ideas after watching this, it is definitely worthy of emulation.
The performances are very good: you honestly want Redford to do good because McGavin and Duvall are so perfectly evil in their opposition. And Brimley turns a great hard ass miserable baseball coach. It's also cool to see Michael Madsen early in his career. -
MCT:July 23, 2007
This is one of my favorite movie of all time. It was one of the firs tmoive isaw with my dad. I watch it every time its on TV or when just want to watch it for the hell of it.
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MCT:July 22, 2007
One of my favourite all-time sports movies. Redford is charming as the humble aging talent. The climax is one of the most memorable and beautiful scenes but to film.
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MCT:July 14, 2007
A film that remains etched in my memory, despite seeing it in the theater as a child. Altman successfully weaves Greek mythology into baseball. A bat born from lightning (Zeus), an evil temptress (Circee), and an angel of good luck (Aphrodite).
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One of the greatest baseball and sports movies of all time. Excellent story, Robert Redford is fantastic, and it's about baseball. Reason enough to see it in my book.
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MCT:June 12, 2007
On a short list of my favorite sports movies. This movie sends chills through every guy that has any passion for the game of baseball, and it even has a mini love story for the ladies out there. A must see for anyone of any age.
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