Four Word Film Review

As a young boy, Roy Hobbes (Robert Redford) is raised by his father to become a ballplayer - the best ballplayer that ever played. However, along the way to becoming a professional ballplayer, Roy's father dies, he carves a bat out of the tree that serves as his dead father's gravestone and he enjoys a romp in the hay with his childhood sweetheart, Iris (Glenn Close).

On the train ride to the being called up to the majors, Hobbes' agent arranges for Roy to pitch against The Whammer (the best hitter in the league and a parody of Babe Ruth). Roy, given his natural talent, succeeds in striking him out on three straight pitches - regrettably causing the femme fatale on the train to seduce him and attempt to murder him.

When Hobbes finally resurfaces sixteen years after this brush with death, he returns both as a changed man and player (now assigned to right field). Originally denied the right to play by the well-meaning but unlucky manager (Wilfred Brimley) affectionately known as 'Pops'. Roy does eventually make his way into the line-up and lead the woeful New York Knights into the thick of the National League pennant race.

To provide intrigue, the pennant (besides being the requisite for playing in the World Series) is also the subject of an all-or-nothing bet between Pops and 'The Judge' - a crooked part owner of the team. A clichéd but plausible premise, it invariably means that the movie will come down to a one-game showdown.

The obstacles are seemingly never ending for Hobbes, who must also face off against crooked gamblers, sexual temptation (embodied - so to speak - by a sultry Kim Bassinger) and the physical and mental reminders of the glaring errors made during his youth.

But fear not you faint of heart, like the promotional tagline for the film states: "He lived for a dream that wouldn't die." If that isn't overt enough for you, just refer to my four word film review and you'll know the outcome.

This film lives and dies by the themes that it presents for the audience's consideration.

    Theme One: The bond between a boy and his father is the hardest to break.
    Theme Two: We must continuously overcome temptation if we are to succeed in our lives.
    Theme Three: The strength of America and its people is derived from its agricultural and moral roots.
    Theme Four: Baseball is a simple game, a blessing to sport and to America and the creator of heroic figures.

Old clichés presented in a new way is perhaps the ugliest part of this film. In addition, some minor plot holes are ineffectively glossed over, begging the viewer to ponder - for example - why Roy neglected to contact anyone for sixteen years. The shame of being seduced in its own right seems an invalid excuse.

This is my third favourite baseball film and still has enough good in it to make a Top 100 list of some sort. A little over handed at times, it nonetheless deserves credit for being one of the first major sports films of the 1980s that seemingly inspired a dozen others.