Der Unbeugsame (1984)
55KDer Unbeugsame: Directed by Barry Levinson. With Robert Redford, Robert Duvall, Glenn Close, Kim Basinger. A middle-aged unknown comes seemingly out of nowhere to become a legendary baseball player with almost supernatural talent.
“This is another one that I recently re-watched on cable. I must upgrade my collection to include the DVD. Of course, there are reviews which will attack its sentimentality; get over it!! It amazes me that so many film goers canu0026#39;t view a movie with a positive and sophisticated charm without rolling their eyes or sticking their finger down their throat. (As if we donu0026#39;t have enough coarse, angry, u0026#39;edgyu0026#39; films in release already.) I donu0026#39;t mind Redfordu0026#39;s Joe Hardy-like ability one bit, because success- for all of his skill and talent- still doesnu0026#39;t come to him easily. He must suffer a physical tragedy, be elusive with his greedy contemporaries, and finally deal with the past, which he spends the entire movie trying to hide. The one nitpick I have with the whole film was the painfully obvious soft-focus photography used to disguise Redfordu0026#39;s age. It isnu0026#39;t so bad in the first reel when heu0026#39;s supposed to be a teenager (and the camera shoots him in silhouette and at length), but later, when heu0026#39;s supposed to be between 36 and, say 40, he just *isnu0026#39;t*. Glenn Close is radiant as his love from childhood, and shines in a memorable scene when they are first reunited at one of his games. After he goes into a foreshadowed slump, it is the arrival of Close (angelically back lit, and whose presence he senses even before seeing her) that brings him back to winning. Singularly gorgeous.”
