{"id":1403,"date":"2007-10-22T11:33:47","date_gmt":"2007-10-22T11:33:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/idolchatter\/2007\/10\/top-ten-robert-redford-inspira.html"},"modified":"2007-10-22T11:33:47","modified_gmt":"2007-10-22T11:33:47","slug":"top-ten-robert-redford-inspira","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/2007\/10\/top-ten-robert-redford-inspira.html","title":{"rendered":"Top Ten Robert Redford Inspirational Flicks"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"redford.jpg\"With a new Robert Redford film (\u201cLions For Lambs\u201d) coming out, I figured it was a good time to list the top 10 Inspirational films that he\u2019s either been in, directed or produced. There\u2019s been a lot of attention paid to his commercial appeal as well as Sundance\u2019s impact on the Indie film market, but he\u2019s been overlooked for the inspirational nature of some of his projects. It may be because his politics have been counter to the religious right for a long time, but he\u2019s clearly been a filmmaker with a purpose.
\nWith apologies to those who loved \u201cThe Legend of Bagger Vance,\u201d \u201cQuiz Show\u201d and \u201cA River Runs Through It,\u201d here\u2019s my list of his Top Ten in (of course!) reverse order:<\/p>\n


\n#10. \u201cSneakers.\u201d A redemptive story about a band of buddies\u2014all needing a second chance\u2014coming together to beat the bad guys. It\u2019s also about the painful choice many of us have to make, which is to move on from our old friends when our values change significantly. Would be higher on the list except for the clumsy ending.
\n#9. \u201cThe Sting.\u201d How many of us would love to get even with a Doyle Lonigan who\u2019s done something evil to someone we love? Plus, there\u2019s just gotta be a Redford-Newman pic on the list.
\n#8. Tie between \u201cBrubaker\u201d and \u201cThe Last Castle.\u201d Both were Redford\u2019s attempts to shed light on the injustices inflicted upon those incarcerated, who\u2019ve become the modern-day lepers of our society.
\n#7. \u201cLegal Eagles.\u201d This was mostly light fare but it includes one of the finest courtroom scenes you\u2019ll ever see about the pursuit of truth and how much we forget the power and foundational need for the presumption of innocence.
\n#6. \u201cJeremiah Johnson.\u201d For all of us flat-landers who\u2019d love to find the beauty of the mountains and the simplicity we\u2019d wish to find, this was a vicarious trip with a humility and realism rarely found in superstar movies.
\n#5. Tie between \u201cAll the President\u2019s Men\u201d and \u201cThe Candidate.\u201d It\u2019s hard to tell what caused America to take a closer look at its leaders more: the Watergate Scandal, or the movie portraying the improbable odds and single-minded focus that brought the scandal to public light. And perhaps I was just young, but seeing \u201cThe Candidate\u201d was the first time I realized that political campaigns were truly more about winning than being right, and that having the actual ability to make our country a better place is a second-fiddle concern in a campaign.
\n#4. \u201cThe Milagro Beanfield War.\u201d One of the purest films you\u2019ll ever see, about spirits, traditions, beans and how the commitment of a few can overcome the corruption of the crowd.
\n#3. \u201cOut of Africa.\u201d It was Meryl\u2019s movie, but Redford\u2019s portrayal of an uncompromising man more committed to his ethics than his desires gave new meaning to \u201cto thine own self be true,\u201d and set a great example for a lot of guys who thought they were just going to a chick movie as a favor to their date.
\n#2. \u201cThe Electric Horseman.\u201d Rarely has there been a better movie about how a sinner can find some morality after he\u2019s pushed to his limit. Guy or girl, red or blue, old or young, and animal lovers all, it\u2019s hard not to find inspiration in this tale of a drunkard who stands up to the powers-that-be and the woman who sheds her professional instincts to find personal wholeness.
\n#1. \u201cThe Natural.\u201d Most of us believe we were born to achieve more than what we\u2019re currently doing. We were just thrown off track somewhere along the way. Watching this will give you the courage to rediscover what it was and risk everything to go try it. Some said the ending was too \u201cHollywood\u201d or impossible until Kirk Gibson achieved it in real life at the 1987 World Series!
\n“Whaaht!” you say, where’s “Butch Cassidy” or “Three Days of The Condor” or his other classics. Well, I liked ’em but they didn’t qualify as inspiring. You of course may have your own opinion and can post here.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With a new Robert Redford film (\u201cLions For Lambs\u201d) coming out, I figured it was a good time to list the top 10 Inspirational films that he\u2019s either been in, directed or produced. There\u2019s been a lot of attention paid to his commercial appeal as well as Sundance\u2019s impact on the Indie film market, but…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":104,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1403","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-movies"],"yoast_head":"\nTop Ten Robert Redford Inspirational Flicks<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/2007\/10\/top-ten-robert-redford-inspira.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Top Ten Robert Redford Inspirational Flicks\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"With a new Robert Redford film (\u201cLions For Lambs\u201d) coming out, I figured it was a good time to list the top 10 Inspirational films that he\u2019s either been in, directed or produced. There\u2019s been a lot of attention paid to his commercial appeal as well as Sundance\u2019s impact on the Indie film market, but…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/2007\/10\/top-ten-robert-redford-inspira.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Idol Chatter\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2007-10-22T11:33:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/idolchatter\/files\/import\/redford.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Douglas Howe\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Top Ten Robert Redford Inspirational Flicks","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/2007\/10\/top-ten-robert-redford-inspira.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Top Ten Robert Redford Inspirational Flicks","og_description":"With a new Robert Redford film (\u201cLions For Lambs\u201d) coming out, I figured it was a good time to list the top 10 Inspirational films that he\u2019s either been in, directed or produced. 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