The Natural

The year is 1984, not that 1984, and Barry Levinson has just released The Natural, starring Robert “Wonderboy” Redford, Robert Duvall, Glenn Close, Kim Basinger, and Wilford “Oatmeal gave me Diabeetus” Brimley.  Robert “my character has progeria” Redford stars as 19-year-old baseball phenom Roy Cobb, a man whose most obvious attributes are a wicked pitching arm and a face and skin that makes him looks like he is 40. Roy leaves his best girl behind and heads off to the big leagues, and at the first train stop out of his town, he meets this total psycho lady who shoots him and then kills herself for some reason. Cobb disappears for like 15 years and then gets drafted by another major league team and no one likes him until they do, and then he gets good again but not at pitching, at hitting this time. Some other stuff happens too, but not a lot of that matters because Roy is the best there ever was.  The Natural made $48M on a $20M dollar budget and was released to much critical acclaim, including being nominated for 4 Academy Awards, but does it hold up? Listen in to Jon, Colin, and Brent as they discuss this period piece and see if it gives new hope to elderly sports fans who want to get a late start on their career, or if the national pastime is better left to the young, competent athletes with stomachs that can properly digest silver bullets and brains that can not stick their dick in crazy at every opportunity.