The Natural (1984) | 100 Movies Every Catholic Should See #142

Directed by Barry Levinson. Starring Robert Redford.

“Sing to me, Muse, of the wanderer, the man of twists and turns…” (Homer, The Odyssey)

Perhaps no sport is more malleable in genre than baseball. Sure, yes, every baseball movie squarely falls into the “sports movie genre” category. But baseball is able to cross over into other film genres with perhaps more ease than any other. It can be a straight drama (see Eight Men Out). It can be a comedy (Major League). It can be a mix of both, but with an added dash of Brad Pitt (Moneyball). It can be a coming-of-age dramedy (Everybody Wants Some!!!), it can be a father and son story (Field of Dreams)…I can keep going. The point is, baseball, with its over century of history, has found a way to be told and retold on film again and again.

At its core, though, baseball might be best understood as a myth. It’s at least this way for every young boy who has dreamed of becoming a baseball player, seeing their heroes on the diamond more like the gods of Olympus than as normal, mortal men. The Natural, more than any other baseball film, understands this core tenet of baseball better than any other.

The Robert Redford (may he rest in peace) star vehicle, adapted from the book of the same name, tells the tale — fable, really — of Roy Hobbs, the “best that ever was and ever will be,” a baseball player so naturally talented that he seems destined for greatness…until his own follies snatch that dream away for sixteen years. When he returns to the game as an older man, he gets another shot at his dream, only for his same flaws to threaten to derail everything once again. His only true path forward to fulfilling his baseball destiny? To find his way back home to his true love and the son he never knew he had.

If that at all sounds like The Odyssey, you would be right. If that at all sounds like King Arthur, you would be right once again. The Natural is dripping in Homeric and Arthurian references and influence, weaving its baseball tale like it’s one of the great ancient texts. Roy Hobbs is both Arthur and Odysseus, on an epic quest to ultimately make his way home to his one true love, even as the forces of darkness both outside and within threaten to stop him.

In the book version of The Natural, the story plays out more akin to a Greek tragedy — particularly in regards to the ending (we will get to that). In the film, however, it’s an American legend. Yes, there are “some mistakes you may pay for your whole life,” as Hobbs says at one point. But, as another character later puts it, we “live two lives. The one we learn with, and the life we live with after that.” Hobbs is given the opportunity to learn from his mistakes and become the best version of himself over the course of the film — both for his team, the aptly named New York Knights, and for the family he ultimately has to return to.

Now, about that ending. Forty-three years later, you have likely seen the closing minutes at this point, if not the entire movie. The shot of Redford smashing a home run into the stadium lights, causing an avalanche of sparks to come raining down upon him and his team as he rounds the bases one last time, is as iconic a shot as any other in movie history. The book, however, ended differently — with Hobbs, in the most important moment of his career, striking out, leaving his dream behind in disgrace, ultimately felled by the demons that tormented him his whole life.

For some, this change robs The Natural of its staying power and makes it nothing more than a feel-good, overly sentimental fairy tale. But, isn’t that what baseball is at its very best? A fairy tale, where the hopes and wishes we had as children finally get to come to true. All Roy Hobbs ever wanted to be was a baseball player. Just like any young, American boy. And for one shining, sparkling moment, as the sparks come crashing down, he got to live out that fairy tale and live it to the full — living it out for all of us who still clutch onto that dream. What could be more naturally baseball than that.

If you can indulge me two technical diversions that have to be mentioned as well. First, and obviously, the Randy Newman score. It’s been described as Coplandesque by some. Wagnerian by others. It is all those things, yes, but for generations of baseball fans, it’s been the soundtrack of iconic moment after iconic moment. What was once fantasy on film has become reality — Kirk Gibson’s magical home run for the Dodgers only becomes more mythic when Newman’s score swells underneath it. The Cubs finally winning the World Series after over a hundred years? Even more chill-inducing with Randy Newman scoring the moment.

Now, for the cinematography. The film is awash in nostalgic hues. That’s purposeful. Caleb Deschanel (you may know him from The Passion of the Christ) wanted the film to resemble the color processes of pictures from the early 1900s and obsessed over finding a way to emulate that look. The final, Academy Award-nominated product, is the result of all those efforts, making The Natural both nostalgic and timeless in a way that is still striking to this day.

The Natural is baseball at its myth-making best. It captures the mysticism of the sport in a way that perhaps no other sports picture ever has. As we follow Hobbs’ story to its rousing conclusion, we see a King Arthur for the sport of baseball, a man ready to inspire generation after generation that they, too, can step into the batter’s box and fulfill their wildest fantasies. Like Arthur, Hobbs strives for greatness, wielding a magical weapon to thwart his enemies. Yes, temptations lead to his downfall — as they do any man, in time.

But, in a distinctly American — and, dare I say, Catholic — twist on the Arthurian legend, Hobbs is able to overcome these enemies and ultimately fulfill the very destiny thrust upon him by his father. Sentimental to a fault? Perhaps. Does baseball exist to break your heart? Also, perhaps. But, for fleeting moments, it can also fulfill your wildest dreams.

That’s The Natural.