The Natural
May 1984
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Synopsis
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4.6
34 total
5 25
4 7
3 1
2 1
1 0
Gene Siskel
Being a baseball fan involves repeatedly experiencing exquisite pain and exquisite joy. Well, there's a lot of both in The Natural.
Richard Schickel
Levinson must have felt he had to swing for the fences. He can be forgiven for choking up with all The Natural's fans looking on dubiously. In fairness, the official scorer must credit him with a single. And Redford with an RBI.
Variety Staff
The Natural is an impeccably made, but quite strange, fable about success and failure in America.
Dave Kehr
I've just about had it with directors who use the mythic mode as an alibi for unshaded characterizations, simpleminded plotting, and swells of artificial emotionality.
Let yourself go and be rewarded by the sight of a hero running home to victory through clouds of fire.
Roger Ebert
The message is: Baseball is purely and simply a matter of divine intervention. At about the 130-minute mark, I got the idea that God's only begotten son was playing right field for the New York team.
Critic reviews
Gene Siskel
Being a baseball fan involves repeatedly experiencing exquisite pain and exquisite joy. Well, there's a lot of both in The Natural.
Richard Schickel
Levinson must have felt he had to swing for the fences. He can be forgiven for choking up with all The Natural's fans looking on dubiously. In fairness, the official scorer must credit him with a single. And Redford with an RBI.
Variety Staff
The Natural is an impeccably made, but quite strange, fable about success and failure in America.
Dave Kehr
I've just about had it with directors who use the mythic mode as an alibi for unshaded characterizations, simpleminded plotting, and swells of artificial emotionality.
Let yourself go and be rewarded by the sight of a hero running home to victory through clouds of fire.
Roger Ebert
The message is: Baseball is purely and simply a matter of divine intervention. At about the 130-minute mark, I got the idea that God's only begotten son was playing right field for the New York team.
Vincent Canby
Though entertaining in short stretches, The Natural has no recognizable character of its own.
User reviews
Cast and credits
Actors | Kim Basinger, Robert Redford, Robert Duvall, Glenn Close |
Producers | Mark Johnson |
Director | Barry Levinson |
Writers | Roger Towne, Phil Dusenberry |
Additional information
Rotten tomatoes® score
Audio language
Subtitles
Rental period
Start within 30 days, finish within 48 hours.
Info cards
Run time
137 minutes
Rating
PG
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