Even if you haven't seen it all the way through, or if you saw it so long ago you don't remember it in its entirety, there are parts of The Natural that you'll never forget. In the beginning, when young Robert Redford carves a baseball bat from the lightening-charred wood of a tree, the "Wonderboy" bat will become engrained in your memory. And I don't know of any moviegoer who doesn't immediately recognize the slow-motion home run with fireworks and Randy Newman's beautiful score in the background.Those two scenes aside, The Natural is a classic baseball movie. Robert Redford rises and falls—and perhaps rises again—as a baseball player in the 1920s and 1930s. Which means this is a perfect "compromise" movie, as I call it. Men will be satisfied because it's a sports movie, and ladies will get to drool over Robert Redford in period piece outfits.Three women, Barbara Hershey, Glenn Close, and Kim Basinger, are important and different influences in his life. Joining the cast are Robert Duvall as the nosy reporter—are there really any other kind of reporter?—and Wilford Brimley as the team manager. If you haven't seen this 80s classic by now, rent it during the last week of March to get revved up for baseball season. The music is surprisingly beautiful; you'd never guess the same composer wrote the music to Toy Story. And even though he's always handsome in his movies, Robert Redford is particularly gorgeous in this one, so even if you don't like baseball, there's plenty else to fall in love with.

Wonderful bit of Americana told through that most American of sports, baseball. Director Barry Levinson fashions a mythic tale about an over-the-hill 1920s baseball player, Roy Hobbs, finally getting his shot at the big leagues with the fictional New York Knights. Robert Redford plays Hobbs, himself in many ways a stereotypical All- American boy. Hobbs seemingly comes out of nowhere and no one knows where this talented player came from or why it took him so long to appear in the majors. Hobbs quickly gains fame an attention, and while on his journey faces many challenges; tempted by seductresses, facing down dark corrupting forces, and the lure of money and fame. As with most American myths and tropes, they have their roots in other cultures. The mythology presented in "The Natural" seems heavily influenced by Greek Mythology, with Hobbs as a Homer-like hero on a journey to find home. Kim Basinger and Barbara Hershey plays a sirens. Darren McGavin and Robert Duvall plays dark, corrupting underworld god-like figures manipulating events. Glenn Close represents the home that Hobbs is seeking. Other actors of note in the film include Wilford Brimley as the team manager and Richard Farnsworth as an assistant coach. There's also strong supporting performances from Robert Prosky, Michael Madsen, Mike Starr, and Joe Don Baker in a small role that's a thinly veiled analogue for Babe Ruth. Randy Newman also deserve note for his beautiful score, as does director of photography Caleb Deschane. When a baseball smashes the ballpark lights in an explosion of sparks and rousing music are unforgettable and gorgeous. Barry Levinson has made some brilliant, including "Diner," "Avalon," and TV series like "OZ" and "Homicide: Life on the Street," but I think this film may be my favorite of all of his fine work.

I enjoy this movie whenever I see it which proves you don't need to be a baseball or even a sports fan to like this story. However I don't think the movie is about baseball. I believe it to be an allegory of America. From it's youthful hopefulness to its near death (civil war?)to its excess (eating until it (he) bursts). The movie culminating in an ever bright future while the book was decidedly more pessimistic. And with all this you can choose to ignore these subtleties and just enjoy a good story well told.

This is one of those movies that I realize I'm in the distinct minority by disliking so strongly, but I feel this epitomizes the type of vanity platform for Robert Redford similar to these demonstrated a few years later by Kevin Costner, especially in Wyatt Earp and The Postman.I recall this film having an excessive use of slow-motion, especially after Redford's character hits a home run (he never seemed to do anything but hit those or strike out - not even a triple could be written into the script). Other characters were clichés right out of central casting, particularly Robert Prosky's. Like so many sports movies that try to adopt story lines with nearly biblical meanings, this one takes itself WAY too seriously.