Watched The Natural again for the first time in many years. The gap in time for Roy Hobbs (19 - 35 yrs old) was vague - probably intentionally. What was he up to in those years? Quit playing completely? Chasing women? Working odd jobs? Or was he in such bad shape from being shot that he was in a long term coma? Roy Hobbs looked much older than 35 but not sure if that was intentional.
I believe it was depression era which made life very hard, probably a day laborer or something that aged him. He looks younger in the final scene throwing the ball with his son imo.
I don't think it went into specifics, but I think it insinuated that after the injury he bounced around the minors a bit and then disappeared back to his family farm. The ending of the book is different than the ending of the movie as well.
Duuuh! Redford and Close were both over twenty years too old for their characters. But they had the star power that is required to get funding to make a Hollywood movie. It happens a lot. They pulled it off better than most. The worst was Diana Ross playing Dorothy in "The Wiz" when she was pushing 40.
Just an aside, but for me the film's portrayal of Hobbs and ending are a billion times better than the novel's.
Think I was about 10 when I first saw the movie. Didn't focus too much on gap but figured he was either in a coma or seriously injured and didn't play at all. Bouncing around in minors was never considered since he was so good.
That's a long coma from being an 18 year old kid to a 35 year old man. His muscles would never be the same after a coma that long...
