25 best sports movies, ranked by the dust in your eye

8. The Natural (1984)

Directed by Barry Levinson
Starring Robert Redford, Robert Duvall, and Glenn Close

Widely and rightfully regarded as one of the best sports movies ever made, The Natural succeeds by eschewing many of the genre’s most enduring conventions.

Instead of focusing on a young athlete who becomes great over time, the film’s protagonist, Roy Hobbs (Redford) is established as being preternaturally talented from a young age. The film establishes the great conflict of his life is overcoming widespread corruption as opposed to a more talented rival or a hard-luck break. And most notably, The Natural doesn’t even try to be realistic. Instead, it weaves a tale of about a player whose radiant goodness and talent make him seem more like a myth than a real human being.

Still, while The Natural’s plot strains credulity and its characterization borders on hagiographic, the film is incredibly engrossing. It feels like an American fable, a story that’s apocryphal nature doesn’t undercut its power or meaning. Watching Roy do seemingly impossible things like casually strike out Babe Ruth as an amateur or craving a bat out of the tree that his father died under don’t feel ridiculous. On the contrary, every step upon his journey to major-league stardom feels like a legend realizing his destiny.

The movie’s warmly rendered American mythologizing comes to a head in the film’s iconic climax. In it, Roy is tasked with getting a pennant-winning homer against a much younger and stronger opposing pitcher. And he has to do so in the midst of bleeding to death. But after the way the film built Roy up, his success is never in doubt. All that’s left for the audience to do is to weep with joy as he once more does the impossible.