The Natural (1984)

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The Natural (1984)

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The Natural is a 1984 film adaptation of Bernard Malamud's 1952 baseball novel of the same name, directed by Barry Levinson and starring Robert Redford. The film, like the book, recounts the experiences of Roy Hobbs, an individual with great "natural" baseball talent, spanning decades of Roy's success and his suffering. The film was nominated for four Academy Awards, including Best Supporting Actress (Glenn Close), and nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress (Kim Basinger). Many of the baseball scenes were filmed in Buffalo, New York's War Memorial Stadium, built in 1937 and demolished a few years after the film was produced. Buffalo's All-High Stadium stood in for Chicago's Wrigley Field in a key scene. It was the first film produced by TriStar Pictures.

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The Natural (1984)

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Plot: Roy Hobbs (Robert Redford) is a child, playing baseball with his father on the family farm. Mr. Hobbs dies suddenly while Roy is still young, collapsing under a tree. That tree is split in half by lightning, and young Roy carves a baseball bat from it, on which he burns the image of a lightning bolt and the label 'Wonderboy'. In 1923, a 19-year old Hobbs is granted a tryout by the Chicago Cubs as a pitcher. The train to Chicago makes a stop at a carnival and Roy is challenged to strike out "The Whammer" (clearly based on Babe Ruth) (Joe Don Baker), the top hitter in the major leagues. He does so in front of many people, including a sportswriter named Max Mercy (Robert Duvall), who draws a picture of the event to put in the paper the next day. Just before Hobbs gets on the train, a young boy shouts, "Hey Mister what's your name?!" Roy Hobbs responds by telling the boy his name and throwing him a ball. Back on the train, the naive Hobbs is seduced by Harriet Byrd (Barbara Hershey), an alluring but sinister woman, who gravitates to him after judging that he, rather than The Whammer, is now the best baseball player in the world. Byrd lures young Hobbs to a hotel room, shoots him, and then jumps out the window to her death. The story skips forward 16 years to 1939. A fictitious National League team called the New York Knights has signed the now 35-year-old Hobbs to a contract, to the ire of the team's gruff manager and co-owner, Pop Fisher (Wilford Brimley). With the Knights mired in last-place, Pop is angry he has been sent a "middle-aged rookie" and refuses to even let him participate in team practice. After a showdown in which Roy refuses to submit to Pop's judgement of him when angrily told he is to be sent back to the minors, Pop is impressed and relents. When finally allowed to practice with the team, Hobbs shows incredible hitting ability.

–from wikipedia

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The Natural (1984)

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The Natural (1984)

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The Natural (1984)

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The Natural (1984)

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The Natural (1984)

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