However, I also don't feel I can call myself a movie blog if I don't stop for a moment to acknowledge the passing of one of the greats.
It wasn't just what Redford brought to the screen as a matinee idol and acting icon. It was what he fostered as a champion of independent cinema through his long association with the Sundance Film Festival, named after his most iconic character. The fact that he was also a strong proponent of my cherished progressive causes is also really resonating for me, especially this month.
But because I'm not currently in a position to do a deep dive into IMDB and give a granular consideration of a career that started in 1960 with a role on the TV show Maverick, I'm just going to pay my respects to Redford with a little free associating today.
The first thing I thought when I heard Redford had died in his sleep at age 89 was "Robert Redford was 89?" Even though it would make sense that he would be, Redford always projected boyish good looks that belied his age, even when he was in his announced final role in The Old Man and the Gun in 2018. (Which, incidentally, was the second to last film I saw with my mother, and the last while she was compos mentis.) Given how there Redford clearly still was for this film -- maybe not looking a day over 68 -- it seemed strange that this would be his final film. (He did have a few bits of voiceover work after this, as well as one Marvel cameo.)
Because he did add a youthful vigor to whatever he did, the fact that he lived nearly nine decades does seem strange. But when you go back and look at the titles, well, you remember what a part of the cinematic landscape he was for six of those nine decades.
If we are talking about his role in my own personal viewing history, consider also that Redford was in the first movie I ever saw on video with my wife. That may seem like a strange milestone to honor -- our first movie together was in the theater, The Aviator, which played at the bar after our wedding per our request -- but I do remember that we watched Redford's The Clearing in her apartment in our first month of dating. Redford would have been something special to me even if I weren't a cinephile.
The listing of his classic titles is not something I'm going to do here. The internet is filled to the brim with Redford appreciations right now. You know the titles. Me proving I can also list them does not do anything for you.
To illustrate these two personal examples, however, gives you a little something different. It suggests Redford's cinematic everpresence, even in films from the twlight of his career. He was solid, he was reliable, he was charming as hell, and he made many a person swoon with his beauty. It's all we want and need from a movie star.
Yet Redford also had a career as a producer, director and film festival impresario, cementing his status as one of the more titanic cinematic figures of the second half of the 20th century, and even the first quarter of the 21st century. He poured his all into his love of cinema, and we were the beneficiaries.
Rest in peace, Sundance.
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