Robert Redford’s Tremendous Impact on Hollywood
Robert Redford has passed away at the age of 89 and has left an impeccable stamp on the world through the work that he has left behind.
Not many legends strike the chord that the name Robert Redford hits when you think of his name. That’s because Redford was an icon in Hollywood and made a career out of playing diverse characters from different professions and walks of life. You may think of him as a former sex symbol if you remember his work in the 1970’s, 80’s or 90’s. Or you may remember him as the smart and sophisticated one who had it all figured out on-screen most of the time. Whatever films you remember seeing him in the most, it is clear that at least one will stick out in your head as the “definitive” Robert Redford performance. For me, it was the audience respected critical disappointment, Indecent Proposal. As a director, Redford made the layered gem, Ordinary People, which may be one of the most respected films he ever worked on. He even appeared in a Captain America Marvel film and did a great job!
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Sting, Legal Eagles. These three movies from three different decades all presented totally different sides of Redford. Legal Eagles presented the lighter side of the actor in another one of his lesser reviewed films that I found absolutely entertaining back in 1986. Redford played with Debra Winger and Daryl Hannah in a comedy/thriller that kept the viewer watching thanks to Redford’s magnetic charisma, in particular.
OK. how many of you remember the tearjerker Up, Close and Personal where Redford played with Michelle Pfeiffer? That film fared even worse with critics than Legal Eagles, but cemented Redford’s status as a romantic lead, a gentleman and an accomplished actor through his thoughtful performance. The Way We Were was ultimately the love story Redford will be remembered for most, though. In it, he appeared with the incomparable Barbra Streisand.
Consider The Horse Whisperer from 1998 and 1985’s Out of Africa as two of his most prestigious movies as well. They were nothing short of masterworks. Starring opposite Kristin Scott Thomas and Meryl Streep in those respective films, the actor carved out his place as a distinguished leading man with his powerful work in both of these aforementioned masterpieces.
In All Is Lost, the actor ran the roost as a performer with one of his strongest performances as well where he played, perhaps, the definitive role for the artist. What could have been simply a one-man show because a drama unlike any other with that 2013 film.
Don’t forget his major scene in Indecent Proposal where he starred with Demi Moore. Redford’s character talked about how he loved a young woman he only met once when watching her one-time on a train and exchanging stares. This scene ripped your heart out and proved Redford’s character in the film had heart alongside money. It was also one of Redford’s biggest box-office hits ever.
Redford could pretty much do no wrong in Hollywood. From All the President’s Men to The Old Man & the Gun, he was always complex on-screen and awe-inspiring. He created the Sundance Film Festival where aspiring indie filmmakers like Edward Burns (The Brothers McMullen) could submit their projects and get the recognition they so rightfully deserved. Redford was a pioneer for helping male cinematic roles with great depth come into fruition in modern Hollywood and for helping aspiring artists. Through Sundance, he proved he could pass the buck on by recognizing talent that may have gone otherwise undiscovered. May Redford, a cinematic genius, forever rest in peace.
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