We have come to number 2.
I waffled my 1 and 2 constantly until this week.
It was close.
My special note here...I am leaving my top 20 for a bit...I will be giving you my number one around Oscar week with a special announcement.
Now number 2.............
The Natural.
Yes I lean toward baseball movies but this is something bigger.
It is a story of someone who makes a mistake and years later is just looking for redemption.
It is a story about evil vs good. Darkness vs light. Question this? The dark dress worn by the shooter. The crooked owner and money man....blinds are down, lights are off. They like the darkness. While Roy Hobbs (Redford) is trying to crawl out of the darkness. When he hits that famous HR he hits the lights. They explode like fireworks and light up the sky. He meets Memo Paris (Basinger), wearing dark clothes. He starts to sink down again and there in Chicago Iris Gaines (Close) stands up, . Look at the lighting on the hat. It forms a halo. Don't you think that was a mistake, Levinson knew what he was doing. It is part of his path to redemption. Later on he says in the owners office he will swing away and then turns on the lights. It is bigger than a baseball film.
Sometimes it is even bigger than Hobbs. How about redemption for Pop Fisher the coach. After all the losing seasons he just wants one great season. He should have been a farmer.
It was well acted by:
Redford
Duvall
Close
Basinger
Brimley
Farnsworth
A great screenplay by Roger Towne and Phil Dusenberry, based on the book by Bernard Malamud. That was based on a shooting of Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Eddie Waitkus in a Chicago hotel
It is all perfection. I can probably tell you this film line by line.
If you avoided this film because you think it is just a baseball film...you are wrong ..SEE IT!!
Remember Roy Hobbs ...The Best There Ever Was.
From the shadows as always thanks for your time.
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