| The Natural | |
|---|---|
_poster.jpg) Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Barry Levinson |
| Screenplay by |
|
| Based on | The Natural 1952 novel byBernard Malamud |
| Produced by | Mark Johnson |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Caleb Deschanel |
| Edited by | Stu Linder |
| Music by | Randy Newman |
Production company | Delphi II Productions |
| Distributed by | Tri-Star Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 138 minutes 144 minutes (Director's Cut) |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $28 million |
| Box office | $48 million[1] |
The Natural is a 1984 Americansportsdrama film based onBernard Malamud's 1952novel of the same name, directed byBarry Levinson, and starringRobert Redford,Robert Duvall,Glenn Close,Kim Basinger,Wilford Brimley,Barbara Hershey,Robert Prosky andRichard Farnsworth.[2][3] Like the novel, the film recounts the experiences of Roy Hobbs, an individual with great "natural"baseball talent, spanning the decades of Roy's career. In direct contrast to the novel, the film ends on a positive tone. It was the first film produced byTriStar Pictures.
The film was nominated for fourAcademy Awards, including Best Supporting Actress (Close), and it was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress (Basinger). Many of the baseball scenes were filmed in 1983 atWar Memorial Stadium inBuffalo, New York, built in 1937 and demolished in 1988.All-High Stadium, also in Buffalo, stood in forChicago'sWrigley Field in a key scene.
In the 1910s Midwest, Roy Hobbs learns baseball from his father, who suffers a fatal heart attack. Lightning strikes a nearby tree, from which Roy makes abaseball bat, which he brands with a lightning bolt and the legend "Wonderboy".
In 1923, 19-year-old Roy leaves behind his girlfriend, Iris, for a tryout with theChicago Cubs arranged byscout Sam Simpson. On the train, Sam and Roy are snubbed by "The Whammer", a legendary ballplayer, andsyndicatedsportswriter Max Mercy. While stopped at a carnival, Sam bets Max that Roy canstrike out the Whammer in three pitches. Roy does so, drawing the attention of Harriet Bird, who has a murderous fixation on champion athletes. In herChicago hotel room, Harriet shoots Roy in the stomach before throwing herself out the window. Health complications derail his baseball career.
Despite his age and unknown past, in 1939 the 35-year-old Roy is signed to the New York Knights,Major League Baseball's last-place team. Pop Fisher, the team's manager and part-owner, nearly demotes Roy to theClass B league, but is impressed by his power hitting during batting practice. During a home game against thePhillies, Pop benches star player Bartholomew "Bump" Bailey and has Roypinch hit. Using "Wonderboy", Roy hits a triple that knocks the cover off the ball, making him an overnight sensation.
News of Roy's growing fame reaches Iris, Roy's high school girlfriend now living in Chicago. In a game against theSt. Louis Cardinals, Bump dies after crashing through the outfield wall while trying to make a catch. Roy becomes the starting right fielder, and his sensational hitting pulls the Knights up theNational League standings. Assistant manager Red Blow reveals that Pop was forced to sellcontrolling interest of the team to a new majority owner, the Judge, but Pop will regain ownership if the Knights win thepennant. Unlike Bump, Roy refuses to be bribed by the Judge intothrowing the season.
Max, now covering the Knights, spends weeks unsuccessfully trying to uncover Roy's past. While in the stands behind home plate during a team practice, Max sees Roy pitch a fastball that almost tears through the backstop's netting and recognizes him from striking out the Whammer in 1923. He introduces Roy to Gus Sands, a powerfulbookie, and Roy begins a romance with Memo Paris, Pop's niece. Pop believes Memo is bad luck, and Roy and the Knights find themselves in a slump, which continues into aWrigley Field game against the Cubs. Spotting Iris in the stands, Roy shatters the scoreboard clock with a game-winning home run. They meet briefly, and after another win the following day, Roy walks Iris home, and she reveals she has a teenage son.
Their reunion restores Roy's prowess and the Knights surge into first place, but he is poisoned by Memo, who is colluding with Sands and the Judge. Roy learns that lasting damage from Harriet'ssilver bullet could prove fatal if he continues playing. Without him, the Knights lose three games in a row, setting up aone-game playoff against thePittsburgh Pirates atKnights Field. The Judge offers him $20,000 (equivalent to $452,000 in 2024) to throw the game, reveals he has already bribed another player, and threatens to expose Roy's connection to Harriet's death. Memo pleads with Roy to accept the payoff, while Iris assures him that he will always be remembered as a great ballplayer. Roy rejects the bribe and is almost shot by an angry Memo.
During the game, Roy deduces that pitcher Al Fowler was also bribed, but convinces him to play his best. In the dugout, Roy receives from Iris a note revealing that Roy is the father of Iris's son. With the Knights trailing in the bottom of the ninth inning, Roy hits a foul ball that splits "Wonderboy". He tells batboy Bobby Savoy to pick him another bat, and Bobby retrieves one he made himself, the "Savoy Special". Bleeding through his uniform, Roy smashes a home run into the stadium lights,winning the game and the pennant. Back on their farm, Iris watches Roy and their son play catch in the same field where Roy and his father played.
Malcolm Kahn and Robert Bean acquired the rights toBernard Malamud's 1952 novelThe Natural in 1976.[4]Phil Dusenberry wrote the first adaptation.[4] In October 1981, Roger Towne, aColumbia Pictures story editor and brother ofRobert Towne, quit to produce and write the screenplay, with Bean set to direct and Kahn co-producing.[5][4]
In 1983, newly formedTri-Star Pictures acquired the rights to the film adaptation, its first production.[4] It wasRobert Redford's first acting role in three years.[4]
The film's producers stated in the DVD extras that the film was not intended to be a literal adaptation of the novel, but was merely "based on" the novel. Malamud's daughter said on one of the DVD extras that her father had seen the film, and his take on it was that it had "legitimized him as a writer."[6]
Darren McGavin was cast late in the process as gambler Gus Sands and was uncredited in the film. Due to a disagreement, he chose not to be credited, though Levinson later wanted to credit him and McGavin said no.[7][8] Levinson stated on the DVD extras for the 2007 edition that because there had been too little time during post-production to find a professional announcer willing and able to providevoice-over services, Levinson recorded that part of the audio track himself.[7]
Two-thirds of the scenes were filmed inBuffalo, New York, mostly atWar Memorial Stadium,[9] built in 1937 and demolished in 1989. At the time of filming, the stadium was the home of theBuffalo Bisons, aMinor League Baseball team who were then playing in theDouble A levelEastern League and would move up toTriple A and theInternational League in 1985 (that team was actually the second Buffalo Bisons to play at the stadium. Theoriginal Bisons had actually played in the Triple A International League and were tenants at the stadium from 1961–1970). With a spectator capacity of 46,206 it was the second largest venue in the Minors in 1983/84 (behindDenver's then 75,123 capacityMile High Stadium), and the sixth largest regular Minor League stadium in history. One quirk with War Memorial Stadium that was never mentioned in the film was that although it had long been used as a baseball stadium, it was in fact a rectangular shaped venue that had been primarily built forfootball. As such the right and right center field fences were both considerably shorter (by between 20 and 30 feet) than they were in left field. The film's directors were careful not to show any high shots of the stadium that would show the compromised field dimensions (especially since Hobbs was a left handedPower hitter with right field being his natural pulling side), while any views of the right field fence and stands were shot from ground level (getting no closer than the pitchers mound), making it seem like it was a regular sizeBaseball field (they also used slow motion for balls Hobbs hit into the stands to make it seem like he had been hitting long distance home runs). With the baseball diamond located in close to the (northwest) corner of the field, directors were also careful not to show the large amount of ground between the baseball field's outfield fences in left field to thebleacher seats located at the eastern end of the stadium. The northwest corner location of home plate was another quirk with the stadium. Placing home plate there actually put the baseball diamond on the opposite side of the field to the main grandstand and press box. Thus the main stand for football actually became the center field bleachers during baseball games while the press box was where they showed The Judge's office to be.
Buffalo'sAll-High Stadium, with post-production alterations, stood in for Chicago'sWrigley Field in a key scene in the film.[10] Additional filming took place at theNew York and Lake Erie Railroad depot inSouth Dayton, New York.[11][12]Cece Carlucci, anumpire from thePacific Coast League, manufactured the umpiring gear used in the film.[13]
Variety called it an "impeccably made ... fable about success and failure in America."[14]James Berardinelli praisedThe Natural as "[a]rguably the best baseball movie ever made".[14]ESPN's Page 2 selected it as the 6th best sports movie of all time.[15] Sports writerBill Simmons has argued, "Any 'Best Sports Movies' list that doesn't feature eitherHoosiers orThe Natural as the No. 1 pick shouldn't even count."[16]
DirectorBarry Levinson said onMLB Network's "Costas at the Movies" in 2013 that while the film is based in fantasy, "through the years, these things which are outlandish actually [happen] ... likeKirk Gibson hittingthe home run and limping around the bases ...Curt Schilling with theblood on the sock in the World Series."[17]
Leonard Maltin's 18th annualMovie Guide edition called it "too long and inconsistent." Dan Craft, longtime critic for theBloomington, Illinois paper,The Pantagraph,[18] wrote, "The storybook ending is so preposterous you don't know whether to cheer or jeer." InSports Illustrated,Frank Deford hadfaint praise for it: "The Natural almost manages to be aswell movie."[3]John Simon ofNational Review and Richard Schickel ofTime were disappointed with the adaptation. Simon contrasted Malamud's story about the "failure of American innocence" with Levinson's "fable of success ... [and] the ultimate triumph of semi-doltish purity," declaring "you have, not Malamud's novel, but a sorry illustration of its theme".[19] Schickel lamented that "Malamud's intricate ending (it is a victory that looks like a defeat) is vulgarized (the victory is now an unambiguous triumph, fireworks included)," and that "watching this movie is all too often like reading aboutThe Natural in theCollege Outlineseries."[20]
Roger Ebert called it "idolatry on behalf of Robert Redford."[21] Ebert's television collaboratorGene Siskel praised it, giving it four stars, also putting down other critics that he suggested might have just recently read the novel for thefirst time.[22]
In a lengthy article on baseball movies inThe New Yorker,Roger Angell pointed out that Malamud had intentionally treated Hobbs' story as a baseball version of theKing Arthur legend, which came across in the film as a bit heavy-handed, "portentous and stuffy," and that the book's ending should have been kept. He also cited several excellent visuals and funny bits, and noted that Robert Redford had prepared so carefully for the role, modeling his swing on that ofTed Williams, that "you want to signhim up."[23]
The filmreview aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes retrospectively compiled reviews from 48 critics to give the film a score of 83%, with an average rating of 7.2/10. The website's consensus reads: "Though heavy with sentiment,The Natural is an irresistible classic, and a sincere testament to America'snational pastime."[14] The film received a Metacritic score of 61 based on 19 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[24]
The Natural was nominated for fourAcademy Awards: Actress in a Supporting Role (Glenn Close), Cinematography (Caleb Deschanel), Art Direction (Mel Bourne,Angelo P. Graham,Bruce Weintraub), and Music (Randy Newman).[25]Kim Basinger was also nominated for Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress.[26]
The initial DVD edition, with copyright year on the box reading "2001", contained the theatrical version of the film, along with a few specials and commentaries.
The "director's cut" was released on April 3, 2007.[27] A two-disc edition, it contains the featurette "The Heart of the Natural," a 44-minute documentary featuring comments fromCal Ripken Jr. and Levinson; it is the only extra released originally with the 2001 DVD. Sony added a number of other extras, however, including: "When Lightning Strikes: CreatingThe Natural," a 50-minute documentary discussing the origins of the original novel and the production of the film; "Knights in Shining Armor," which addresses the mythological parallels betweenThe Natural, King Arthur and theOdyssey; and "A Natural Gunned Down" which tells the story ofEddie Waitkus, a baseball player who was shot byRuth Ann Steinhagen, a female stalker, in an incident which inspired the fictionalized shooting of Roy Hobbs.[28] The film itself has been re-edited, restoring deleted footage to the early chapters of the story. These scenes expand on the sadness of Hobbs, focusing on his visits to his childhood home as an adult and his childhood memories.[28]The "gift set" version of the release also included some souvenirs: a baseball "signed" by Roy Hobbs; some baseball cards of Hobbs and teammates; and a New York Knights cap.
Thefilm score ofThe Natural was composed and conducted byRandy Newman.[29] The score has often been compared to the style ofAaron Copland and sometimesElmer Bernstein. Scott Montgomery, writing forGoldmine music magazine, referenced the influence, andDavid Ansen, reviewing the film forNewsweek, called the score "Coplandesque".[30][31] The score also has certainWagnerian features of orchestration and use ofleitmotif. Adnan Tezer ofMonsters and Critics noted the theme is often played for film and television previews and in "baseball stadiums when introducing home teams and players".[28]
Levinson also described toBob Costas inMLB Network's "Costas at the Movies" how he heard Newman develop the movie's iconic theme: "We were racing to try to get this movie out in time and we were in one room and then there was a wall and Randy's in the other room. One of the great thrilling moments is I heard him figuring out that theme...You could hear it through the wall as he was working out that theme and I'll never forget that."[citation needed]
The soundtrack album was released May 11 on theWarner Bros. label, with the logo for Tri-Star Pictures also appearing on the label to commemorate this as their first production.[32]
The Natural, a 1984 Robert Redford vehicle based on the classic Bernard Malamud novel about a baseball player, features some of Newman's most inspiring movie music — his first score to feature synthesizers prominently in string arrangements. Leaning gently on Copland, Berlin and his uncle Al, the dramatic title theme (which has been heard in virtually every baseball-related film trailer since the movie's release) earned Newman both an Academy Award nomination for best soundtrack and a 1985 Grammy Award for Best Instrumental.
