The first of Barry Levinson’s directing-only assignments, this sentimental period drama about a gifted 1930s baseball player and perennial loser proved the director could handle a big league cast (Robert Redford, with Robert Duvall, Glenn Close, Kim Basinger and Barbara Hershey in support) and epic imagery (in collaboration with the superb cinematographer Caleb Deschanel) although the material is unwieldy and too lovingly dwelt upon.
The ending cops out on the cynical sorrow of the novel, but compensates with a heroic moment of glory in the ball park.
