Powerful

Brilliant and touching

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

The first must-see film of the year.

Wow. What an interesting film. It's both a sports flick and a morality play...and it fits both those categories quite perfectly. It's elevated by the use of ambiguity and metaphor into a story that truly transcends and speaks to the soul. We root for the lost sparks of glory that is ever present and yet beyond the reach of a fallen man. And we question what our first life is really worth - what we can find meaning and glory in. And all this is set in the completely entertaining sports genre.Honestly some of the best use of slow-motion I've ever seen. And a great musical score by Randy Newman. This should be a classic. It's deep. It's dynamite.

A Great Love Story, A team Overcoming insurmountable odds.. Facing potential death for playing in the game, but doing it for the team, Pops, his first love, and his son. Just the history of the bat is almost enough, but sprinkled with these other elements: if you can watch 2:10-2:15 and not get chills......It all comes together in One Swing. The team, his legacy, his son, his first love. David fells Goliath.Amazing music (Grammy Award winner 1985), cinematography, acting, and story. Great actors. Great Story. Could watch every week. Just like Hoosiers - Jimmy Chitwood winning shot. Enjoy.

1. Discover your talent/gift, but also work hard to develop it 2. Beware of women when you succeed and make it 3. When life sidetracks you, make a comeback 4. Believe in yourself and your talent 5. It's never too late to live your dreams and up to your potential 6. Beware of the friends you keep 7. Love and family are more important than fame and fortune if it means loneliness or health risks; know when to walk away. 8. Remember what your father taught you 9. Having the right woman by your side who loves you for who you are is better than the wrong one who only loves you for the money and fame 10. Fame and fortune have a way of changing people from their home grown roots; remember where you came from.These are ten tips of wisdom contained in and taught in the Natural. Not many films go for worldly wisdom in such a natural, easy to follow, and realistic way, but the Natural builds its' whole story and characters around it. This film has heart, superb acting, lines you can memorize, and is lots of fun if you're a baseball fan.It also has an incredible, star studded cast of great actors: Redford, Duvall, Barbara Hershey, Kim Basinger, Glenn Close, and at least three other lesser known, but well respected actors. It's as much about baseball as it is about how to gain and handle success.

The Natural (1984)What an outsized reputation this sentimental, sloppy movie has! Even the famous scene with Glenn Close standing up in the stands in the sun is smaller than you'd expect. In fact, if you take this movie as a straight ahead story of a glorious (if fictional) baseball past, it's simplistic and overly sentimental to the point of unwatchable.But it's not straight ahead. It's a fable. It does silly things knowing that they would work in an illustrated children's book, so why not make it a sepia-toned over-the-top feel-good Hollywood bash? Indeed.So when Robert Redford (who does not, by the way, have the biceps for power hitting) smashes a pitch so hard he rips the skin off the ball, it's not for real. Or it's better than real. And so forth with lightning arriving in time for his last big hit, or having his rival crash through a wall and die (yes die!) just when he needs a chance to take position in right field. Treating this as a fable about a man with talent and a dream, and with some kind of sloppy honor to his past (you'll see), makes it very watchable. It's doesn't quite make it "good" however, so be prepared to like the film only on its own simple terms. It's fun if you don't think too hard. This movie has great credentials, including Barry Levinson directing and Robert Duvall in a secondary role. Honestly, it's just not my kind of film—check out "The Pride of the Yankees" for a really good baseball film—but I can see how it would settle nicely on a lot of folks, including young people with dreams of being the best.