Viewed in
2010
Premise
Robert Redford stars as Roy Hobbs, a baseball player given a second chance 16 years after his first try.
Liked
Interesting story, the cast.
Disliked
Unrealistic baseball moments.
Thoughts
An intriguing story that made it more than just a baseball movie.
At first, I was nearly lulled to sleep by the typical-ness of the first fifteen minutes. Roy Hobbs was just a talented player with a great heart. Plus, I was confused why a 20 year old kid was played by a wrinkled Redford. Then the twist occurred, and that's when the film got my attention. I was drawn into a redemptive tale of a man versus overpowering, stacked odds conspiring against his baseball dreams. Even the subplot of meeting his hometown sweetheart was handled with complexity and unspoken words. It never veered into chick-flick-ville, and (for the first time in a sports movie) made me want more scenes of them together.
Redford was great as usual, he was immediately likable and easy to root for. But the whole cast was pretty darn cool. I had only known Wilford Brimley for his comedy hijinks on Colbert Report, so I was surprised by his effective performance as the bitter, worn-down coach. Another surprise was Robert Duvall as a sleazy reporter. Then there was Barbara Hershey in a small role, Kim Basinger as the femme fatale, and Glenn Close as the hometown sweetheart. Close's casting was amusing, because three years later when would be the femme fatale in Fatal Attraction.
The rest of the execution was pretty well-done. Director Barry Levinson made sure nothing was rushed or forced. My favorite scene was when Hobbs took batting practice for the first time, especially how it used sound. Just the crack of the bat, and the distant thud of the ball hitting the empty seats, echoing into the night. Just perfect execution. And when score was needed, Randy Newman's fit the moment.
As much as I liked the film, I had trouble loving it because it lacked sports reality. Sure, it's cooler to shatter stuff when you hit a home run or have mythical weather during important moments. However, it was unnecessary. The film already won me over with its plot and premise, but to have plausible, but over-the-top baseball feats was just distracting. The characters were grounded in realism, why couldn't the baseball be the same?
Another issue was that Hobbs' secret revelation about his past was not explained well-enough for me to understand. Clearly, the film makers intended for me know know what happened, but I had to check Wikipedia to get a better idea. Also, the film's pacing lost a little momentum a bit after halfway. Since I watched the Director's Cut, I would bet that was where the additional scenes were inserted (I did not verify this).
This was a very good film, thanks mainly to it cool premise, interesting characters, and strong acting. I just wished the film makers did not try so hard to make everything "perfect".
What I would change
Fixed some continuity issues, such as Redford wearing a ring when his character never married.
Random
There were some interesting "six degrees" aspects. An unrecognizable Michael Madsen was a player. So was Danny Aiello III, son of, well, you can guess. Lastly, the cinematographer, Caleb Deschanel, who not only did a wonderful job, but his last name should ring a bell to folks of my generation.
