Reviews

My son and I have watched this movie twice together. I can't think of any other movie we have watched twice--together. I'm 60 and my son is 26. There is the element of magic, of fairy-tale, of other-worldliness; there is the element of the naturalness, the character of Robert Redford; there is the element of baseball, the great sport-love of millions of boys in North America--and me back in the 1950s when I was growing up and dreamed of going to the majors; there's a touch of the sexual with Kim Basinger and Barbara Hershey----one could go on listing the pluses that this movie brings to the viewers. But I think what makes the movie in the end is the magic of Roy Hobbs as he hits a baseball further and harder than anyone ever has or(probably) ever will. Hobbs is the quintessence of the baseball hero and for sports lovers that's their religion. Hobbs is like Jesus come down to earth in the form of a baseball player, yet with sins of omission and commission. So, he's human and a superhero all at once.

When this film came out I was 18 and had just begun the road of life. I saw this film sometime in the 1970s, I can't remember now exactly. But, at the age of 60 I can appreciate what this film points to in life.

In my lifetime, 1944-2004, the secularization of society has proceeded with great force and most of the people I have known live their lives without any reference to formal and traditional religion. "The Bird man of Alcatraz", in some ways, is just another example of that way of life, a very successful way for millions and in this case "The Bird Man."

I am personally of the view that civilization needs a religion, the only question is which one, not which hundreds and thousands--the case today. But this film seems to imply--although it does not say so even in generally explicit terms--"I can get by with some combination of inner drive, etc etc." Inspiring.