The Natural (1984)

Some weeks ago I wrote about Bernard Malamud's The Natural, and how different it was from the movie. In this entry, I'll write about that 1984 film, directed by Barry Levinson. It follows the basic outline of the novel, and includes many details, but has an entirely different spin.

Again we follow the exploits of Roy Hobbs, played by Robert Redford. He is a phenom pitcher who strikes out a Ruthian figure (Joe Don Baker) on three pitches. But he is stalked by a murderess (Barbara Hershey) and disappears from view.

He emerges some years later, now as a hitter. He has been signed by the lowly New York Knights. The manager, the irascible but soft-hearted Wilford Brimley, can't believe his eyes that a player that old would be a rookie. He suspects the team's owner (Robert Prosky), of trying to sabotage the team, for if the team does not win the pennant, Brimley will lose his shares in the franchise. Indeed, the signing of Hobbs was a joke, but it turns out to be on Prosky, as Hobbs sets the league on fire with his bat, knocking his first hit so hard the cover comes off.

Hobbs becomes a star, hitting home runs and angering Prosky. So a team goes after him, including a sportswriter (Robert Duvall) who witnessed the earlier strikeout but can't place Hobbs, and Brimley's niece, (Kim Basinger), who seduces Hobbs. She also keeps time with a gambler (Darrin McGavin), who bets against Hobbs. He promptly goes into a slump, but is brought out of it by being reunited with his childhood sweetheart (Glenn Close).

Eventually the Knights go into a one-game playoff, the pennant on the line. Hobbs' old gunshot wound has acted up on him, and he's told that if he plays again it could kill him. Prosky gives him money to throw the game, but Hobbs returns it and plays. In dramatic fashion, bleeding from the abdomen, he hits the game-winning home run into the lights, and the team celebrates as sparks fly around them.

When I first saw this movie, upon its initial release, I didn't think much of it. It is extremely corny, and the ending, while emotionally satisfying, is intellectually idiotic. It completely subverts Malamud's book, but of course Hollywood is not in the business of making unhappy endings. The film retains the cynicism of the novel, but instead of Hobbs being the primary focus of the cynicism, he's the true-blue hero who bucks against it.

The film also overdoes the King Arthur imagery, which was in the book, but not to this extent. Now we have Hobbs (Roy, of course, means "king") making his Excalibur--the bat called "Wonderboy," from a tree felled by lighting. He plays for the Knights, natch. He is seduced by a dark lady (even if she does have blonde hair).

The film's other big departure is in the character of Iris. In the book, she's merely a fan. Hobbs has a fling with her, but dumps her after finding out she's a grandmother. In the movie, she's a paragon of virtue.

Despite all this, watching The Natural a second time I kind of liked it. I got caught up in the baseball part of it--the little things tickled me, like Brimley and the good-hearted coach, Richard Farnsworth, playing a version of Name That Tune in the dugout. The flannel uniforms looked right, and the stadium, the now gone Buffalo War Memorial, stood in nobly for the Knights' home field.

The supporting cast was also good and sleazy, with Duvall, McGavin, and Prosky making the skin crawl on the back of your neck. Redford was stoic, as he has been throughout much of his career, and if he was a little too old for the part, he did at least get Ted Williams' swing down pat.

The two best things about the movie are Caleb Deschanel's golden-hued cinematography, and Randy Newman's score, which is just about my favorite score of all time. You've heard it, even if you haven't seen the movie, because it's used in many trailers. In fact, I like the soundtrack album more than I like the movie.