Robert Redford, who died Sept. 16 at 89, left behind so many gifts as an actor, director, and activist.
Not content to be just the big-screen god of the 1970s, the actor, director and environmental activist worked behind the scenes to make the world a little better. Instead of using his fame for personal gratification, he poured it into causes like founding the Sundance Institute and championing the Sundance Film Festival for independent films.
Redford set an example that lives on today in the actors and directors who feel the responsibility to use their time in the spotlight wisely. As we honor his legacy, we are left with the sheer pleasure of watching his films over and over again.
Like him, they will stand the test of time.
‘All the President’s Men’ (1976)
The Watergate movie that made future reporters flock to newspapers like a priestly calling is also is one of the best films ever about investigative journalism and the efforts politicians will take to stifle it.
‘Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid’ (1969)
The first of his classic buddy films with Paul Newman, this postmodern Western hid a timeless morality tale — crime doesn’t pay — inside its breezy humor. Worth seeing again for the cliff-jumping scene alone.
‘The Way We Were’ (1973)
Ah, Hubbell! Redford was usually reluctant to play old-fashioned heartthrobs, and his “Way We Were” role as a frustrated author who has things come too easily to him seemed to echo his own struggle with his physical beauty. And talk about doomed romance! When Barbra Streisand brushes the hair on his forehead with her hand, be still our broken hearts.
‘All Is Lost’ (2013)
A starkly beautiful coda to his acting career, this character study of a man lost at sea and trying to survive against the odds is like an agnostic’s prayer. The ending is open to two interpretations that symbolize redemption either way.
‘Ordinary People’ (1980)
Redford’s directing triumph is so powerful at every turn — and so honest about the repressed trauma of an upper-class family — that it’s hard not to assume he identified with all three leads: Mary Tyler Moore’s repressed suburban mom, Donald Sutherland’s passive dad and Timothy Hutton’s tormented teen. The film was voted best picture at the Oscars and brought Redford the best director prize.
‘Three Days of the Condor’ (1975)
This taut spy thriller about a low-level CIA operative who becomes a target in a vast conspiracy echoed the distrust of government that pervaded the 1970s and gave Redford a chance to show off his knack for conveying simmering anxiety.
‘The Sting’ (1973)
This bouncy caper about an elaborate con job paired Redford with Newman again and was a ticket to two hours of retro stylishness set to a score of Scott Joplin ragtime that took over pop culture.
‘The Great Gatsby’ (1974)
Appreciation has grown over the years for Redford’s attempt to embody F. Scott Fitzgerald’s flawed and doomed hero. Dismissed by some as a star vehicle, it might be the movie star’s ultimate statement on the superficiality and tragedy often mistaken for the American dream.
‘The Candidate’ (1972)
Redford’s brilliant portrayal of a decent man who succeeds as a politician by becoming an empty vessel of image and ads now seems scarily prescient. Another statement film by an actor whose hopes and fears for his country frequently seeped into his films.
‘Jeremiah Johnson’ (1972)
In the ultimate celebrity act of defiance, Redford hid his face behind a thick, scruffy beard for this anti-Western that tried to be brutally authentic. It was one of his best performances and left us with the meme of a slightly smiling Redford nodding approvingly. (And, no, it’s not Nick Offerman underneath that facial hair.)
Contact Detroit Free Press pop culture critic Julie Hinds at jhinds@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: 10 must-watch Robert Redford movies that defined his career
Reporting by Julie Hinds, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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