Rating  - Wow, i finally bought it
I needed to buy this movie. Its my favorite of all time.
Rating - One of the greatest baseball movies ever made.
A movie I watch 2-3 times every year right about spring training time to get myself into that baseball mood. It really gives you that feel for baseball and why people dedicate their lives to it, in whatever capacity. The color and camera work captures the feel of baseball in yesteryear. So much of this story is told without detailed dialogue- a sign of a great movie. And so many words of wisdom - truisms, are uttered so casually that if you miss them, you miss so much of the very essence of this film. Redford is perfect as Roy Hobbs, as is Wilford Brimley as manager of the lowly New York Knights. But Robert DuVall and Kim Bassinger play great supporting roles, as do the rest of the supporting cast members, many who will be familar character actor faces. I never read the book, but know that those who have take umbrage to the license the movie takes with the story and how they present it. If you haven't read the book that won't affect you. What will affect you is Levinson's direction and the feel for the era he creates with the simplicity of the dialogue, the cinematography, and the color and lighting used, not to mention Randy Newman's period setting musical score, which is magical in setting the necessary moods. You feel like you're in another era. This Natural also contains my favorite quotes in movie history, when Glen Close utters, "I believe we have two lives- the one we learn with, and the one we live with after that." That quote embodies this film, and is my credo. Redford's hospital bed quote of "some mistakes we never stop paying for," also is quite profound. A great movie with a great ending, that was almost reenacted in the 1988 World Series with Kirk Gibson's magical game winning home run in game one against the Oakland A's. A must watch for even non-baseball fans.
Rating - The Natural
I cannot review this product because I purchased it as a gift for friends. However, I am giving it 5 stars because my friends love watching "Field of Dreams." They have watched it too many times to count. The family recently got a DVD Player and "Field of Dreams" was the first DVD they purchased to watch. "The Natural" being in a similar vein will most assuredly be as watched since they love anything baseball related. Personally, I would give it a "5" just for the main character, Robert Redford.
Rating  - "Have We Met Before?" ~ The Second Coming Of Lightning Boy
`The Natural' released in '84 serves quite well as a nostalgic sports tale, underscored love story and thinly disguised morality play.
Plot: Roy Hobbs (Robert Redford) could've been the greatest professional baseball player of all-time if not for one bad decision he made while on his way to spring training. A one night fling aboard the train taking him to try-outs ends horribly in a near fatal injury to Roy and the suicide death of his woman of mystery.
Roy fights his way back from the injury and bad press, paying his dues in the minor leagues until he finally gets another chance to prove himself against the best. However quite a few years have now passed and Roy isn't the young man he used to be, or so the coaches and players keep telling him. Will they give him a chance to prove he's still one of the best there ever was? If they want to have a chance at winning the pennant they'd better.
Redford delivers another one of his leisurely, low-key, verbally challenged performances, leaving it up to the rest of the cast to provide the necessary energy and emotion to carry him and the plot to its inevitable conclusion. Glenn Close plays Roy's love interest Iris and Robert Duvall turns in a strong performance as hardnosed sports reporter Max Mercy. However both roles are surprisingly small for stars of such high caliber and seem to be ill-used as nothing more than interested observers instead of integral characters in the plot.
As far as I'm concerned the standout performance in this film is delivered by Darren McGavin in the role of unscrupulous gambler Gus Sands. Sands believes everyman has his price and is determined to find out what it takes to buy Hobbs services, thereby controlling the outcome of the baseball season. The only time Redford comes alive in this film is when he's actively engaged in conversation with Gus.
The film is also bolstered by strong performances from Wilford Brimley, Richard Farnsworth and Kim Basinger. I'd better not forget the soundtrack by Randy Newman, brilliant!
Bottom line. The baseball sequences are great, unfortunately there just aren't enough of them.
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