I rarely react when I hear that a celebrity has died. Often, it is authors that affect me more than actors or musicians. But Robert Redford was probably my mother’s favourite actor, partially (hah!) influenced by looks. And so I react a little more knowing that she would have been said to hear of his passing at 89 years. (Although she liked Paul Newman more, I think).
For me, I don’t have strong views about his role as a director… Ordinary People, The Horse Whisperer, and the Legend of Bagger Vance were all enjoyable, but didn’t move me deeply. Equally, I don’t have strong attachments to any of the movies he produced.
But his acting chops? IMDB has 82 entries as an actor for Redford, and I’ve likely seen about a quarter to a third. More in the middle than the beginning or end of his career.
Like most viewers, I probably noticed him for the first time not in his TV episodes but in the movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Obviously not in 1969 at its first release, since I was only 1yo at the time, but in subsequent reruns on TV. I’ve never seen The Candidate (1972) from start to finish, only bits and pieces. My mom loved The Way We Were (1973).
But The Sting (1973) is one that I think I actually saw at the drive-in with my siblings when I was only five. I’m not kidding. I remember the bicycle scene and the song (Raindrops keep falling on my head…). I’ve probably seen it front to back about three times, and another ten times in bits and pieces on TV runs.
I found Three Days of the Condor (1975) too confused, even after seeing it when I was in my teens. And I have to confess, I found All the President’s Men (1976) way too slow. I’ve survived it once, and perhaps watched bits and pieces here and there another two-three times. Great story, way too slow of a movie.
I enjoyed The Electric Horseman (1979), although it was a bit campy. I remember finding Brubaker (1980) quite dark, although outside of the basic plot of a prison warden cleaning up a prison, I remember almost none of the movie.
But 1984 brought out The Natural, the best that ever was. That’s a direct quote from the movie about baseball player Roy Hobbs, where all he wants is to walk down a street someday and have someone say, “There goes Roy Hobbs. The best that ever was”. It may not be the best movie of all time, but I think it may arguably be the best role that Redford ever played. So subtle in places it’s staggering.
I know that many people consider Out of Africa (1985) as the best movie of his career, but I found it soporific. I have never made it through from start to finish without falling asleep.
Yet I have no credibility at all. Legal Eagles (1986) was a light version of a courtroom drama, with near RomComAction on high alert. Darryl Hannah was relatively fresh off Splash and Clan of the Cave Bear, and despite playing a kook, she just came off as a kook. Spaced out and hardly present. By contrast, Debra Winger was just coming off An Officer and a Gentleman and Terms of Endearment, and I thought she was awesome. The movie is not great, I won’t lie, but I really enjoyed the three of them together. I wanted a better editor, but well, I enjoyed it anyway.
Sneakers (1992) is really quite popular with certain age groups, and while I enjoyed it, the plot was weak with quite a few scenes straining the suspension of disbelief.
He lent his voice to narrating A River Runs Through It (1992), but it was Indecent Proposal (1993) that really caught people’s attention. If you don’t remember the premise, he played an eccentric billionaire who sees a young married couple being affectionate and it prompts him to enter their lives with an indecent proposal — if they agree to let him sleep with the wife for one night, he’ll give them $1,000,000. He’s a bit sleazy with his offer, which is not his normal pure, ethical character choice. And a large number of late night comedians made the same joke — most wives would waive the money for a chance to sleep with Redford. Yet there was a deeper storyline about the couple considering it and what even the proposal itself does to their love and marriage, regardless of their choice. I liked it, but I had three regrets … first and foremost, that they had spent too little time on Redford’s character, maybe other indecent proposals he might have made. Secondly, the pacing in the movie is off, with much need for a better editor. But lastly, I hate to say it, but Demi Moore and Woody Harrelson as the couple don’t really work for me. They don’t seem to have the right chemistry, and while Woody comes off as a relatively dumb schmuck, Demi doesn’t rise to the level of even Striptease.
When it comes to Up Close and Personal (1996), I really want to love the movie. Michelle Pfeiffer from my teenage crush days and Robert Redford in a love story, complete with a journalism / reporting storyline? What’s not to love? The plot, the dialogue, the lack of chemistry between the two of them, the camera work, the pacing. I come close to hating it, just because I had high hopes for it.
I don’t have strong views on The Horse Whisperer (1998), the Last Castle (2001), or really any of the next 13 years until he shows up in the Marvel Avengers movies. Where he has virtually nothing to do. He has gravitas enough to hold a senior position in the Marvel Universe, but it doesn’t do much more than a cameo would have done. Nor any of the acting roles until 2020.
As I said, I liked him best in the middle of his career, not the TV stuff at the start or the movies in the last 20 years.
My final rankings
If I reduce all of it to my five favourite Redford movies, I would choose:
- Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
- The Sting (1973)
- The Natural (1984)
- Legal Eagles (1986)
- Sneakers (1992)
And if I was to only watch one? That would be really tough. He has some really great scenes as Sundance including “I can’t swim”; The Sting is one of the best ensemble casts; and The Natural is sublime for understated acting.
I’m going to have to go with The Natural and Roy Hobbs. I don’t know that I would say Robert Redford is the best that ever was, but he’s in the running. If they are looking to bury a souvenir with him, I hope it’s a bat with a lightning bolt.
Thanks for entertaining us.
