As I stood talking with The Honourable Peter McKay the night of the Children’s Treatment Center Roast, his eyes lit up as the conversation turned from his comedic favourite, Stripes, to the subject of baseball and the excellent sports drama The Natural.
You could tell that the man was extremely passionate about the game, and to him, this movie stands as the quintessential baseball picture. He displayed his knowledge of the film (which he says he has watched over a dozen times) by explaining about the dark undercurrents and immense depth of the story that is held beneath the rather Disney-esque top layer.
Plus, he also reveled in the historic baseball touches, such as Joe Don Baker’s character The Whammer being a clear ode to Babe Ruth.
He closed his commentary by mentioning that he hopes that he will be able to share his passion and love for the film with his son when he gets older.
To clarify this article, I am reviewing the Director’s Cut of the movie, which adds a richer depiction of Hobbs’ early life.
Directed by Barry Levinson, the motion picture follows Roy Hobbs (Robert Redford) over his decade plus journey to make it to the Major League.
The opening act of the picture flashes between several different moments in his life.
We see memories from his childhood, such as when his father dies of a heart attack and when he crafts his Wonderboy baseball bat out of a tree that was struck by lightning.
As a teen, he journeys to Chicago where he is planning on trying out for the Cubs — he meets The Whammer (Baker) on a train and strikes him out during a small side stop, but later, is attacked, placing his dream of playing major league ball in jeopardy.
Flash to the present, and the middle-aged Hobbs finally has his shot with the New York Knights. He struggles to get a spot on the field, as manager and co-owner Pop Fisher (Wilford Brimley) does not have faith in the old rookie.
When he finally gets his chance pinch-hitting for cocky ‘Bump’ Bailey (Michael Madsen) he capitalizes, knocking the cover right off the ball.
He eventually finds out that Fisher is on the precipice of losing the team to the other co-owner, called The Judge (Robert Prosky) — that is, unless the team wins the Pennant.
Will Hobbs be able to help Fisher and his teammates win the Pennant, or will his past and present weaknesses, as well as old injuries, hobble The Natural born player?
The performances in this film are great, but what I would rather talk about is the interesting mythological elements that elevate the movie to another level. We watch our flawed character Roy Hobbs take this lifelong journey.
As his weapon, he cuts down the tree struck by lightning (making his bat), as in the mythical story of George Washington cutting down the cherry tree. As he boards his vessel (a train), he gains a victory beating the Whammer, but is seduced by the call of the siren, or as she is named, Harriet Bird (Barbara Hershey), and is nearly killed by the encounter.
After many long years, he finally reaches the big league, dealing with The Judge, always shown in a dark room (like a cave). He has a positive female influence (Iris Gaines – Glenn Close) and a negative hussy (Memo Paris – Kim Basinger) distracting him from his mission.
His prior wounds draw him down, yet, unlike those dark tales from Homer spoken over 2,000 years ago, our hero, in the true American way, overcomes adversity and though bloodied, reigns victorious.
If this does not make you want to see a movie, I do not know what will. So, hop aboard and take this journey with Roy Hobbs; Homer would be proud of Hobbs’ victorious homer.