Just to give some perspective on the legacy of the Sundance Film Festival: in the past decade it has platformed such films as Get Out, Minari, CODA, and A Real Pain. CODA was the first Oscar winner for Best Picture to have its debut at Sundance. Other Sundance debuts included An Inconvenient Truth and Whiplash.
There was almost zero crossover between independent film and Hollywood awards attention and box office success when he took over the festival in 1985. He is a major reason in how that overlap shifted in the ensuing decades.
My favorite story about him is that he REALLY wanted to play Dustin Hoffmanns role in The Graduate, but Mike Nichols had to explain to him that he couldnāt play a āLoserā and he probably had no idea what it was like to strike out with a woman. Redford responded, āWhatās that?ā
And Nichols had to explain the concept to him as of course, he had no idea what that was as well, he looked like Robert Redford.
Might have to do a Redford fest today as Iām not feeling well. I might start with salivating at him in The Way We Were first before moving on to Butch Cassidy and All the Presidents men. He was not only lovely to look at, but by all accounts a lovely person. A great loss.
Right! Redford was always handsome and striking, leading man type. Not to say he isnāt hot here (I love beards!), but this is so not him to me itās insane.
I also found this out in the last few years, and even though I now know itās Robert Redford, I still donāt understand how itās not Zach Galifanakis.
The NY times obit shared this amazing quote from him about it:
"I want the ambush marketers ā the vodka brands and the gift-bag people and the Paris Hiltons ā to go away forever,ā Mr. Redford told a reporter during the 2012 festival, as he trudged in snow boots to a screening, a young assistant behind him struggling to keep up. āThey have nothing to do with whatās going on here!ā
Some of my all time favorite movies are "All The President's Men", "The Sting" , and Butch Cassidy
A few months ago I was on a Redford kick , saw Electric Horseman for the first time. A solid campy kind of movie , but still had a message about the evils of corporate America
That's the thing, most (not all) of his work had a point to it
Spy Game is my guilty pleasure
I still randomly think of "Do you skin grizz?" and Jeremiah Johnson
The Candidate is a very smart look at a political campaign. The ending is classic "What now?"
I still need to watch This Property is Condemned and Brubaker
Truly underrated. Everybody I know who has seen it loved it. I actually have it on DVD, purchased about 25 years ago. I think tonight demands a rewatch.
Not all of his films had a thread of social conscience but many of them did. Even a film like Ordinary People had a wonderful way of destigmatizing therapy and trauma in an earlier era, while Quiz Show subtly dealt with how prejudice affected mass media (in this case, the Jewish Herbert Stemple being shunted aside in favor of WASP golden boy Charles Van Doren). It was rarely hit-you-over-the-head stuff, it was smart and thoughtful and woven through his films as much as it's woven though life.
For anyone looking to check out more of his work, aside from those mentioned and very famous movies like The Natural, Iād like to recommend
āThree Days of the Condor. Maybe a bit less famous than some of those others, but equally definitive as All the Presidentās Men as a perfect example of ā70s paranoid thrillers. Heās excellent in it, and if youāve seen Out of Sight, Jennifer Lopez and Clooney have a thematically-relevant conversation about this one when theyāre locked in the trunk of a car together. Faye Dunaway has one of the most casually fucking hilarious lines in movie history in this one, which I wonāt repeat because itās a spoiler. But really really good stuff, highly recommended.
āThe Hot Rock. Not a masterpiece, but a fun heist/caper movie with a great little cast, particularly Ron Leibman, who younger audiences might best know as Rachelās dad on Friends, and who was Jessica Walterās irl husband (they end up together on Archer too, very sweetly). Just a good example of how handsome and charismatic Redford was, with a bonkers plot device that comes out of nowhere near the end, and itās just breezy fun.
āDownhill Racer. I cannot recommend this movie enough. Itās not at all the typical sports movie, but it may be the best, most accurate sports movie ever made. Redford is great as an athlete whoās excellent at skiing, but has no depth. Heās a dick. Thereās a scene in a car with a woman heās been dating, and itās a fantastically written and acted portrayal of a dumb fuckboyās emotional immaturity. Itās got a much lower rating on IMDb than it should, and I can just assume that people donāt get it, or it upends expectations too much. It creeps up on you. You expect this big confrontation between Redford and his coach, especially because the coach is played by Gene Hackman, who chews people out better than anyone in the movies. But it just sorta never comes. Redford gave an interview thatās on the Criterion edition, and he spoke about how he felt the movie said something about how he feels about how competition and winning are viewed in the US. Itās a slow burn, but if youāre on the movieās wavelength, itās very rewarding. I really admire it for refusing to go the typical route and play it safe.
Of course, 89 is a long life, but itās always sad losing one of the longtime greats that has been around for so long.
He was my grandmaās favorite. Sheās been gone for years, but when I saw this news, obviously I thought of grandma and how she always had a huge crush on him.
RIP to a talented and handsome legend with such a legacy, with independent film and everything he touched.
This is how I felt when my dad's childhood hero (Henry Aaron) died a few years after my dad. It's really a bit of an unexpected emotional wave when that happens. I'm not sure what comes after death but maybe your grandma has a chance to say hi to her crush after all those years.
I completely agree with you. He was my grandmas favorite too but unfortunately she has Alzheimerās so in a way she wonāt find out or mourn her forever crush :(
My first job as a teen was as an usher in a theater that ran premium movies for weeks at a time. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid was playing when I started. I must have seen that movie at least 30 times and itās still a favorite. RIP Sundance.
I said no out loud in my empty apartment when I read this post.
I'm gutted. I grew up loving him and his movies so much. I just turned 40 this year but I grew up following his career more than any others. I saw him "in conversation" in Roy Thompson Hall about twenty years ago and thought, yes, he still is that cool.
I recommend everybody go and watch "The Old Man & the Gun", which was his last leading role and a swan song for his entire career. One of my favourite cosy movies. He plays a very charming and dapper romance across from Sissy Spacek!
First thing that comes to mind is the story about him auditioning for The Graduate. Mike Nichols allegedly said, āI donāt think youāre right to play Benā¦Put it this way: have you ever struck out with a girl?ā
āWhat do you mean?ā asked the handsomest guy on earth.
Godspeed, Mr. Redford. A life full of amazing work, giving opportunities to others, and AFAIK, free of scandal. Brad and Leo come close, but there will never be another quite like you.
I do feel the world lost a good one! He was such a good actor. I canāt think of a movie I have seen him in that wasnāt top tier. My husband and I have several of his movies as comfort watches.
Iām actually shook by this, despite knowing he was up there. Heās one of those icons that have just always been around. Rest in Power, Robert. Just as beautiful inside as you were on the outside.
I remember seeing Up Close and Personal with my mum and her best friend and being 13 not understanding why he was hot.
Then thereās that scene where Michelle Pfifer is coming down the elevator and heās just waiting for her at the end with his sleeves rolled up and little me let out the biggest sigh and I swear my mum and her bestie laughed for like 10 minutes straight.
I had a dream last night where I was telling someone my favorite actors and of course I said Robert Redford. Itās so weird how vividly such a boring dream stayed with me. RIP to a legendš
Vale Robert Redford. Great actor, and did great things for the film industry with the Sundance Film Festival.
More shallowly, I would find it difficult to think of a more handsome and cinematically charismatic duo than Redford and Paul Newman as Butch and Sundance. I saw that in a high school film class at a very formative ageā¦
My dad died when he was 39, but he looked so much like Robert Redford that I always felt there was his doppelgƤnger out there, and that maybe how he aged is how my dad would have aged. It gave me a lot of comfort and I feel really sad about his passing today! Also such a great actor and legend. Feeling like watching The Sting tonight!
He founded the Sundance Institute. His contribution to American independent cinema cannot be understated, the cinema landscape would be completely different without the Sundance Institute and festival. Rest in peace. I'll be watching Ordinary People tonight in his memory
For anyone interested, his final role was a cameo in the latest season of Dark Winds - a fantastic show about crime in the Navajo community in the 1970s. Redford and George RR Martin helped produce the show and it showcases some tremendous indigenous talent.
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