Excalibur was actually a Baseball bat. (The Natural (DVD))

Member Name: Yermansays

Product:	The Natural (DVD)
Date:	30/06/01 (428 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: It flows

Disadvantages: None really

Robert Redford stars in "The Natural" and as I couldn't find it in the Movie section, I've placed it here amongst the Suggested Items.

Young Roy Hobbs has a gift, he’s a natural but his Father tells him “You must develop it and if you rely too much on your gift, you’ll fail.” Roy has a rare talent for playing Baseball (Don’t let that put you off, there’s far more to this story than a bat and a ball.)
His Dad drops dead (It looked like a heart attack from where I was watching it from) next to a big old tree and later that night, the tree is struck by lightening. Roy takes an axe to the stricken tree and crafts a baseball bat from it, burning the name “Wonder Boy” into the wood.

A few years pass by and young Roy grows a little and becomes older Roy (late teens to early twenties). A somewhat older Robert Redford plays Roy but you can forgive this because the story is just so good. He tells his girlfriend Iris (Glenn Close), he has been invited to try out for a team in Chicago and when he gets there he’ll send for her. He’s a farm boy who has never travelled on a train before and the trip to Chicago proves to be an eventful one.

He meets “The Whammer” a Baseball star played by Joe Don Baker and Max Mercy a Sports Journalist played by Robert Duvall. The Whammer has attracted the attention of a mysterious woman dressed in black. She is Harriet Bird (Barbara Hershey) and young Roy has also noticed her. The train has to make a stop and everyone gets off, a Fairground is in full swing. The Whammer taunts Roy and pretty soon, a bet is placed. Roy has to pitch three balls in an effort to get the Whammer out. All eyes are on the pair, Harriet never lets her gaze wander from the Whammer. In a beautifully filmed sequence played out as the sun is setting, Roy pitches three balls and wins the bet. The Whammer can’t believe it. Harriet immediately fixes her
gaze on Roy; it’s very eerie and is a defining moment in the movie. Back on the train, she speaks to Roy and asks him if he’s heard of Homer (not Simpson). He is clearly smitten by her. In Chicago, Roy gets a phone call, it’s Harriet. She invites him to her room. Roy turns up, enters the room and Harriet says to him “Will you be the best there ever was in the game?” he replies “That’s right.” And……………….

The next time we see Roy is sixteen years later and Redford is now playing someone closer to his own age. He is seen arriving at The New York Yankees Baseball team and is labelled as the oldest rookie in town. That’s as much as I will divulge concerning the plot. The small amount of information I’ve given, takes in five scenes out of twenty-eight and there’s plenty to look forward to. The whole movie is a joy from start to finish and this can be put down to, the Director (Barry Levinson), a top-notch screenplay by Roger Towne and an exceptional supporting cast.

Glenn Close plays Iris Gaines and she gets to deliver one of the movies best lines when she tells Roy “ I believe we have two lives in this life. The one we learn with and the one we live with.”
Robert Duvall plays max Mercy, a sports columnist who believes he can make or break a player by virtue of what he writes.
Wilford Brimley plays pop fisher, Roy’s coach. He wishes he were running a farm instead of coaching a bunch of losers.
Kim Basinger (Memo Paris) becomes involved with Roy
Robert Prosky (The Judge) the Yankees owner, he resides in a darkened office, as his eyes are light sensitive. Greedy and corrupt, he will stop at nothing to achieve his aims.

Lightening, Storms, natural light and man made light (floodlights) all have a significant part to play. Each of the three women (Close, Hershey and Basinger) who enter his life has a marked effect
on his fortunes.

There are elements of the Arthurian legend in terms of events that take place and names (people and places). You can spot them for yourself. The story is old fashioned but overall it all comes together and I would recommend it. I have watched it a number of times and never tire of it. Make of it what you will but it doesn’t matter if you don’t like baseball (I don’t), Robert Redford (He has made some very good movies), Glenn Close (Hmmm.), Kim Basinger (I wouldn’t watch a movie on the strength of her appearance alone) and Robert Duvall (always delivers). The movie was made in 1984 and was based on a novel by Bernard Malamud which I have yet to read and from what I have heard the novel is far superior to the movie.

Last but not least, the music score by Randy Newman is outstanding and kicks in at all the right moments.

Summary: