The Wonder of Wonderboy. The Natural is directed by Barry Levinson and adapted to screenplay by Roger Towne & Phil Dusenberry from the novel written by Bernard Malamud. It stars Robert Redford, Robert Duvall, Glenn Close, Kim Basinger, Wilford Brimley, Barbara Hershey, Robert Prosky and Richard Farnsworth. Music is by Randy Newman and cinematography by Caleb Deschanel. The Natural is a wistful sports movie,…

Many, many years ago when I was a bit of a sports fan, I remember reading stories about scouts who had seen athletes in the olden days like Roy Hobbs. Players who could hit a ball a mile or throw a hundred mile per hour fastball, but who never made it to the big league for some reason. But of course, this movie is based on a novel by Bernard Malamud, though there are hints of actual events here and there. It is…

If you ever saw how Josef von Sternberg photographed Marlene Dietrich then you'll appreciate a similar style of camera adulation from Barry Levinson with Robert Redford in this touching adaptation of Bernard Malamud's complex and characterful novel. Every opportunity is taken to glisten the sunlight through his blond locks to create an almost halo-like effect as his "Hobbs" picks up a very special baseball bat and…