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The Natural (1984)
In Barry Levinson's allegorical and mythical fairy
tale baseball film based on Bernard Malamud's 1952 story (and the
Camelot legend) - and with Randy Newman's soaring score:
- the opening sequence set on a farm in Nebraska -
a young and sports-gifted Roy Hobbs (Paul Sullivan Jr. as boy)
was playing 'catch' with his elderly father Ed Hobbs (Alan Fudge);
shortly later (during a dialogue-free sequence) while chopping
wood outdoors, Mr. Hobbs suddenly collapsed and died of a heart
attack at the foot of the farm's large oak tree; when the tree
was struck by lightning that evening during a storm, the tree trunk
was split, and from the wood splinters, young Roy crafted a baseball
bat, nicknamed and inscribed with the name "Wonderboy" (and
a lightning flash symbol) - Roy's magical "Wonderboy" bat
was reminiscent of Arthurian legend with a lightning bolt inscribed
on it and carved out of a tree struck by lightning
Opening Sequence
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Young Roy Pitching to His Father
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At the Foot of Oak Tree, Roy's Father Died
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Roy's Handcrafted "Wonderboy" Bat
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- years later, pitcher Roy Hobbs (Robert Redford)
received news of a try-out with the Chicago Cubs (Roy was overjoyed:
"I gotta reach for the best in me" he told his neighborhood's
childhood sweetheart girlfriend and prospective fiancee Iris Gaines
(Glenn Close)); presumably, they slept together that evening, and
he - unknowingly - impregnated her before leaving
- while on a train trip to Chicago, he stopped at a
county fair-carnival during a beautiful sun-set, and impressively
delivered three strike-out pitches thrown as a wager to a Babe Ruth-like
big league slugger named "The Whammer" (Joe Don Baker)
Roy's Pitching Wager Against "The Whammer"
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"The Whammer"
(Joe Don Baker)
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Pitcher Roy Hobbs (Robert Redford)
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Bystander Harriet Bird (Barbara Hershey)
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- shortly later, the shocking and unexplained scene
of Roy's shooting (with a silver bullet) by a mysterious, deranged,
black funeral-clad, veiled Harriet Bird (Barbara Hershey), who
had lured him to her Chicago hotel room; he was confused and asked: "What's
goin' on?" - she responded with a question: "Roy, will
you be the best there ever was in the game?"; when he answered: "That's
right", Roy was shot in the abdomen - it sidetracked his career
for many years
- 16 years later (in the year 1939), middle-aged,
35 year-old 'rookie' Roy joined the last-place New York Knights,
managed by Coach Pop Fisher (Wilford Brimley), who believed he was
too old to play; during his first batting practice, he repeatedly
knocked balls into the stands with his "very special bat" -
the "Wonderboy"
- the scene of Roy's first time major-league at bat
when pinch-hitting for star outfielder Bartholomew "Bump"
Bailey (Michael Madsen) against the Phillies in the bottom of the 7th
inning; after striking the baseball, its cover came off and was picked
up by the shortstop, while the ball sailed into the field - as lightning
dramatically struck - to give Roy a triple and put the Knights into
the lead - it was a miraculous comeback
Roy's First Major-League at Bat
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First Time at Bat in Major Leagues
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Lightning
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The Baseball Cover
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- the sequence of the end of Roy's long slump in Chicago
with the appearance of the pure and angelic "lady in the white
dress" in the stands - Roy's ex-girlfriend Iris Gaines stood
up just before he slugged a tremendous blast of a home-run that
shattered the giant clock on the scoreboard in Wrigley Field (it
ended the game although the Chicago Cubs should still have had
a turn to bat the bottom of the inning); after Roy rounded the
bases, he attempted to look up into the stands, but was blinded
by popping flashbulbs
- Iris' visit to Roy who was recuperating in the maternity
ward of the hospital after an attempted poisoning; at first he told
her: "Some mistakes we never stop payin' for"; he admitted
that he didn't expect the earlier assassination attempt: "I
didn't see it coming"; they had a discussion about having two
lives, and how we learn from our mistakes: (Iris: "You know,
I believe we have two lives....The life we learn with and the life
we live with after that"); she reminded him about his impressive
legacy: "With or without the records, they'll remember you.
Think of all those young boys you've influenced. There are so many
of them"; he asked: "That day in Chicago, why did you stand
up?" - she answered: "I didn't want to see you fail"
- the feel-good Hollywood ending -- the scene of the
last game of the playoffs between the Knights and the Pittsburgh
Pirates [Note: Roy had been under pressure through bribery to 'throw'
the game, and had just learned that Iris' son Ted was his!] - when
in the bottom of the ninth with two men on and two outs, Roy (without his "Wonderboy" bat
- after he shattered it hitting a foul ball) requested of Bobby Savoy
(George Wilkosz), the batboy: "Go pick me out a winner, Bobby" -
the Savoy Special)
- although bleeding from his abdomen (his past injury),
Roy (who was inspired by a note written by Iris, again in the stands,
about fathering an out-of-wedlock child years earlier with her) struck
the ball with a mighty whack, and hit the giant set of stadium lights
- to win the series for his team and advance to the World Series;
there was a cascade of exploding floodlights and showering electrical
sparks, as the announcer delivered the film's final line as he rounded
the bases:
"And it's spinning way, way back up, high into the right field!
That ball is still going. It's way back, high up in there. He did it.
Hobbs did it!"
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Roy's Splintered "Wonderboy" Bat
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Roy: "Go pick me out a winner, Bobby"
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"Savoy Special"
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- the final (tacked-on) concluding scene (a book-end
to the film's opening) of a redeemed Roy with Iris and their 16
year old son Ted (a blonde carbon-copy of young Roy); she watched
affectionately as he played catch on the Nebraska farm
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Hobbs' Shooting by Deranged Harriet Bird
Roy's Impressive Batting Practice (Slugging with his "Wonderboy" bat)
For the Last Place New York Knights
Coach Pop Fisher With Roy's "Wonderboy" Bat
Angelic "Lady in White Dress" (Iris)
in Stands
The End of Roy's Slump - His Home-Run Ball Struck
the Scoreboard's Clock
The Hospital Room Discussion - Roy & Iris
Concluding Scene - Roy with Iris Watching, Playing
Catch With His Own Son
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