The Natural (film)
| The Natural | |
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Promotional poster of The Natural
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| Directed by | Barry Levinson |
| Produced by | Mark Johnson |
| Screenplay by | Roger Towne Phil Dusenberry |
| Based on |
Novel: Bernard Malamud |
| Starring | |
| Music by | Randy Newman |
| Cinematography | Caleb Deschanel |
| Edited by | Stu Linder |
| Distributed by | TriStar Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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137 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $28 million |
| Box office | $47,951,979 |
The Natural is a 1984 American sports drama film adaptation of Bernard Malamud's 1952 baseball novel of the same name, directed by Barry Levinson and starring Robert Redford, Glenn Close, and Robert Duvall. 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. It was the first film produced by TriStar Pictures.
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.
A young Roy Hobbs plays baseball with his father on the family farm. Roy's father dies suddenly under a tree. That tree is split in half by lightning, and Roy carves a baseball bat from it. He burns a lightning bolt on the barrel and calls it Wonderboy.
In 1923, Hobbs, now 19 years old, is trying out for the Chicago Cubs as a pitcher. At a carnival, Hobbs is challenged to strike out "The Whammer", the top hitter in the Majors. Sportswriter Max Mercy, traveling with Whammer, draws a picture of the event.
Hobbs also encounters Harriet Bird, an alluring woman, who becomes smitten with him after he strikes out Whammer. Bird lures Hobbs to her hotel room and shoots him before she commits suicide. It is revealed that Bird kills rising athletes, having already murdered two others.
Sixteen years later, the New York Knights sign the now 35-year-old Hobbs, frustrating the team's manager and co-owner, Pop Fisher. With the Knights mired in last place, Pop is angry over being saddled with a "middle-aged" rookie.
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Wikipedia