A movie directed by Barry Levinson. I personally consider it a classic. It has top-notch actors such as Robert Redford, Robert Duvall, Glenn Close, Kim Basinger, and Wilford Brimley.

I've heard it described as a 20th Century Fairy Tale (specifically on the IMDB), which I would say is an accurate description. Roy Hobbs (Redford) plays baseball like nobody else. Unfortunately, when he was young, he was shot and the injury (and the scandalous circumstances surrounding the incident) prevented him from playing until he was much older, and almost at the end of his career.

He plays with a bat that was made from a tree that was struck by lightning, which he carries in a special case, and in his first major league at-bat, he knocks the cover off the ball. If only he had been able to start his career sooner! Then, of course, there is the climactic final scene when he hits the home run that clinches the penant and hits the lights and sends sparks everywhere. This final scene was very beautiful (at least, that's how I remember).

A great deal of this movie was filmed at an old ballpark in Buffalo, New York as well as Wrigley Field, in Chicago. The director and cinematographer both love these old parks.

It's a better movie to watch then to pay attention to, for the most part.

(So, in that way it is much like an earlier Robert Redford movie, The Great Gatsby).

This movie was "based" on the novel-The Natural, (1980),
by Bernard Malamud.

The first part of the novel is about a young baseball player.

The rest of the story is so different from the movie that one wonders if Levinson actually read it. Few Hollywood films based on novels have been faithful to their source, and this is not one of them.

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