dual personalities

Tag: Robert Redford

September 17, 2025

“Pick me out a winner, Bobby”*

by chuckofish

Yesterday Robert Redford died in his sleep at his home in Sundance, Utah at the age of 89. He was never a particular favorite of mine, but it is always sad to see a Hollywood icon from the olden days die. He was undeniably handsome, but he had a cold, cynical look in his eye that made him less attractive to me than, say, Paul Newman. But I really liked him in The Sting (1973) and The Natural (1984)–two of my favorite movies.

Maybe I’ll watch The Natural. Sigh.

It’s been a sad week.

This is a good one about reading as the best way to rebel in a world that can glance at everything and gaze at nothing. “In our world today, many voices seek our attention. Influencers everywhere hawk their wares. How tragic if we develop the capacity to attune to everything but the Word of the Lord. The most radical, countercultural practice we can cultivate today is an intensity in reading and listening to the Scriptures.”

So watch an old movie, read an old book, read the Bible!

103 How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!

104 Through thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way.

105 Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

(Psalm 119:103-105)

*Roy Hobbs in The Natural

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January 4, 2016

“It’s alright, Ma”*

by chuckofish

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Well, the holidays are officially over.

It was a busy long weekend. First I took down the little tree.

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Then the mantle.

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Then I moved on to the big tree.

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Soon all that was left was a pile of pine needles, some of which will still be around next year when we put up the next tree.

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In between we celebrated the New Year with friends and had the boy and daughter #3 over for dinner on New Year’s Day. We watched 3 Godfathers (1947), my favorite movie about the three wisemen, with them.

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I also watched Bridge of Spies (2015)–pretty average–and A Walk In the Woods (2015)–pretty disappointing.  I was hoping it would cheer me up, but considering it is based on a book by Bill Bryson, it was remarkably devoid of humor. Furthermore, Robert Redford is way too old and tired looking to play Bill Bryson, who wrote the book when he was 47. Redford is 79 and, despite what he may think, he looks it. His boyishly cut, dyed red hair looks ridiculous. Nick Nolte looks every one of his 74 years and more. Indeed, he appears to be at death’s door and like he wouldn’t make it 100 yards on the Appalachian Trail in real life. Cleary their backpacks were filled with bubble wrap.

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There was a lot of great scenery, which I appreciated, and the music featured songs by the band Lord Huron. (My dual personality gave me one of their CDs for Christmas and I had coincidentally been listening to it a lot over the weekend during my clean up efforts. BTW the CD is really good.) But, boy, it could have been so much better if it had been cast differently.

Anyway, I am now ready to face the new year at work today. The holidays were great fun, and I will miss my girls. But it’s alright, Ma, it’s life, and life only.

*Bob Dylan. (Yes, I would have spelled it “all right”…)

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January 10, 2014

Great God! this is an awful place.*

by chuckofish

Preoccupied as I am with snow, I got to thinking about a movie pick for Friday that is snow-related.

The first film that came to mind, of course, was one of my favorite musicals, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954), directed by the great Stanley Donen and featuring the best-ever dance in the snow.

Then there is the entertaining Cold War thriller Ice Station Zebra (1968) starring a studly all-male cast that includes Rock Hudson, James Brown and Patrick MacGoohan. Who cares if the sets are terrible?

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If you like Robert Mitchum (and I do), you could watch Track of the Cat (1954), a film noir western wherein “complex and dangerous family dynamics play out against the backdrop of the first big snowstorm of winter.”

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Or there’s Scott of the Antarctic (1948)–the true story of the British explorer Robert Falcon Scott and his ill-fated expedition to try to be the first man to discover the South Pole. All the Brits have stiff upper lips (which become frostbitten) in this very sad rendering of a tragic tale.

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Jeremiah Johnson (1972) with Robert Redford has a lot of snow in it and it is a much better movie than Downhill Racer (1969) which also boasts Robert Redford and lots of snow. I vote for Jeremiah Johnson.

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Other movies that come to mind: The Shining (1980), The Grey (2011), The Pink Panther (1964). Can you think of any good movies that take place in a snowy locale? Did Elvis make a ski-bum movie?

*Scott at the South Pole

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October 11, 2013

Pick me out a winner, Bobby

by chuckofish

All the excitement of post-season baseball has made me think of baseball movies. I can’t say it’s a favorite genre of mine. The popular ones like Bull Durham and Field of Dreams just don’t do a lot for me.

But I do love The Natural (1984), an adaptation of Bernard Malamud’s 1952 baseball novel of the same name, directed by Barry Levinson and starring Robert Redford.

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The Natural was nominated for four Academy Awards: Actress in a Supporting Role (Glenn Close), Cinematography (Caleb Deschanel), Art Direction (Mel Bourne, Angelo P. Graham, Bruce Weintraub), and Music* (Randy Newman). Kim Basinger was also nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress. Of course, it won nothing. And why wasn’t Barry Levinson, the director, nominated? Or Robert Redford? Please. That was the year Amadeus won a lot of awards. Best Picture. Best Director. Remember F. Murray Abraham? Neither do I. He won the Best Actor Oscar.

Well, I like Robert Redford in this movie. He played baseball in college and so maybe that is why he is very believable as a player.

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He underplays to perfection the part of the guy whose life didn’t turn out as he expected. And he is supported by the kind of cast John Ford would have been proud of: Robert Duvall, Wilford Brimley, Richard Farnsworth, Darren McGavin. (And the ladies are pretty good too: Glenn Close and Kim Basinger!)

Speaking of Richard Farnsworth–I just love him.

Farnsworth on the left with Wilford Brimley in the dugout.

Farnsworth with Wilford Brimley in the dugout.

Farnsworth (1920–2000), you know, began his career as a stuntman, playing a bit part in Gunga Din and a soldier in Gone With the Wind. Through the years he played countless dusty cowboys in films ranging from Red River to Blazing Saddles.

The cowboy in the background--Farnsworth was the real deal..

The cowboy in the background–Farnsworth was the real deal.

He continued as such for thirty years, before being “discovered” in his fifties. He was nominated for a Supporting Actor Oscar for his role in Comes a Horseman (1978) and for Best Actor for his final film The Straight Story (1999). It goes without saying that he didn’t win either.

I guess I got a bit off the track there. Don’t act like you’re surprised.

So my Friday movie pick is The Natural. It is a fable of success. Some critics hated the storybook ending, but to me it is like all great baseball games–it ends happily and with a victory. Goodness trounces Evil.

Gus Sands: If it isn’t enough, tell us what you had in mind.
Roy Hobbs: To hit away.

Truth, Justice and the American Way, thank you very much.

Of course, I won’t be watching The Natural tonight. I’ll be watching actual baseball. (Cards vs. Dodgers)

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Swing away, Dave.

* By the way, Randy Newman’s musical score is one of the best of all time.

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