The Natural [Director's Cut] [2 Discs]

MOVIE DESCRIPTION:

The film version of The Natural pulls off the neat trick of conveying the spirit of the Bernard Malamud novel upon which it is based, even while changing both the outcome and the meaning of Malamud's closing chapters. In his first film appearance in four years, Robert Redford plays Roy Hobbs, a farm boy with a hankering to be a great baseball player. With his faithful homemade bat "Wonderboy" in hand, Roy heads to the big city. En route, he arouses the fascination of the mysterious Harriet Bird (Barbara Hershey). Luring the boy to a hotel room, Harriet asks Roy what he wants out of life. Roy brashly responds he wants to be "the best there is," whereupon Harriet whips out a gun and shoots Roy down. Sixteen years later, a humbler Roy Hobbs emerges from the bush leagues to become a 35-year-old "rookie" on the 1939 lineup of the New York Knights. He soon becomes the team's star player, and in so doing once more attracts enigmatic woman Memo Paris (Kim Basinger), the glamorous niece of the Knights' manager Pop Fisher (Wilford Brimley) and the mistress of Rothstein-like gambler Gus Sands (a curiously unbilled Darren McGavin). Roy's fascination with Memo compromises his ability to play, but this time he finds salvation in the form the angelic Iris Gaines (Glenn Close), his childhood sweetheart. From this point forward, the script for The Natural bears very little resemblance to the Malamud original. Without giving anything away, it can be said that Roy Hobbs is given a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to compensate for the mistakes of his youth, despite the demonic intrusion of inexplicably spiteful sports writer Max Mercy (Robert Duvall). The Natural elevates the art of slow-motion photography to new heights; while this technique would become precious and boring in later baseball films, it works beautifully here, as does the decision by director Barry Levinson and cinematographer Caleb Deschanel to convey the symbolism inherent in the story in purely visual rather than blatantly verbal terms. (If the characters told you that the story was a retelling of the Camelot legend in baseball terms, would you have watched?) Another plus is the pastoral theme music by Randy Newman, which has been well utilized on sports broadcasts and "human interest" TV documentaries ever since. The baseball scenes in The Natural were staged at War Memorial Stadium in Buffalo, New York. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

DVD FEATURES:

• Region: 1
• Number of Discs: 2
• Subtitle: Eng/Japanese/Por/Fre
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 (Theatre Wide Screen)
• Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1
• Features:
  • Video introduction by director Barry Levinson
  • Featurettes:
  • When Lightning Strikes: Creating the Natural:
  • Pre-Game: A novelist steps up to the plate
  • The line-up: Assembling the moviemaking team
  • Let's play ball: Filming the show
  • Clubhouse Conversations
  • A Natural Gunned Down: The stalking of Eddie Waitkus
  • Knights in Shining Armor: The mythology of the Natural
  • Extra Innings
  • Heart of the Natural

AWARDS

• Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

•     Nominated Best Art Direction - 1984 (Angelo P. Graham, Mel Bourne, James Murakami, Bruce Weintraub, Speed Hopkins)
•     Nominated Best Cinematography - 1984 (Caleb Deschanel)
•     Nominated Best Original Score - 1984 (Randy Newman)
•     Nominated Best Supporting Actress - 1984 (Glenn Close)

• Hollywood Foreign Press Association

•     Nominated Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Pic - 1984 (Kim Basinger)

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

• Cast:

  
       Robert Redford - Roy Hobbs
       Robert Duvall - Max Mercy
       Glenn Close - Iris Gaines
       Kim Basinger - Memo Paris
       Wilford Brimley - Pop Fisher
       Barbara Hershey - Harriet Bird
       Robert Prosky - The Judge
       Richard Farnsworth - Red Blow
       Joe Don Baker - The Whammer
       John Finnegan - Sam Simpson
       Alan Fudge - Ed Hobbs
       Paul Sullivan - Young Roy
       Rachel Hall - Young Iris
       Robert III Rich - Teb Hobbs
       Michael Madsen - Bump Bailey
       Gayle Vance - Maid at Party
       Darren McGavin - Gus Sands
       Mike Starr - Boone
       Joseph Strand - Home Plate Umpire at Final Game
       Jon Van Ness - John Olsen
       Sam Green - Murphy
       Elizabeth Ann Klein - Stern Nurse
       Joe Castellano - Allie Stubs
       Eddie Cipot - Gabby Laslow
       Ralph Tabakin - Al's Customer
       Danny Aiello - Emil LaJang
       Barry Kivel - Pat McGee
       Ed Walsh - Newsreel Presenter
       Bernie McInerney - Hospital Doctor

• Director:

  Barry Levinson

• Producer:

  Mark Johnson, Roger Towne, Philip Breen

• Screenwriter:

  Phil Dusenberry, Roger Towne

• Book Author:

  Bernard Malamud

• Cinematographer:

  Caleb Deschanel

• Composer (Music Score):

  Randy Newman

• Musical Direction/Supervision:

  Jeff Wexler

• Editor:

  Stu Linder

• Production Designer:

  Mel Bourne, Angelo P. Graham

• Art Director:

  Speed Hopkins, James Murakami

• Associate Producer:

  Robert F. Colesberry

• Executive Producer:

  Roger Towne, Philip Breen

• Set Designer:

  Bruce Weintraub

• Costume Designer:

  Gloria Gresham, Bernie Pollack

• Sound/Sound Designer:

  Jeff Wexler, Chris McLaughlin

• First Assistant Director:

  Patrick Crowley, Chris Soldo

REVIEW:

• Based on Bernard Malamud's book, Barry Levinson's baseball epic is a carefully-wound extrapolation of the original. The all-American Robert Redford's Biblical qualities made him the perfect fit for wunderkind player Roy Hobbs. The plot takes shape slowly, drawn out in painstaking detail to make the payoff all the more memorable. As the three women Roy encounters, Barbara Hershey, Kim Basinger and Glenn Close all turn in solid performances as Roy's three fates. This is an outstanding sports film that adds even more romanticism to baseball lore. Caleb Deschanel's amber-tinged cinematography supplies the film with its striking look. Randy Newman's music bolsters the romantic feel, upping the film's Americana quotient. Although it is first and foremost a topnotch baseball film it also lends itself to a variety of interpretations dealing with fate, American heritage, and the metaphysical. Levinson's patient and textured direction combined with a focused and engrossing storyline make this a unique picture. ~ Mike DiBella, Rovi