Editing Robert Redford (section)

=== 1980–1998: Directorial debut ===
His first film as director was the drama film ''[[Ordinary People]]'' (1980), a drama about the slow disintegration of an [[upper-middle class]] family after the death of a son. Redford was credited with obtaining a powerful dramatic performance from [[Mary Tyler Moore]], as well as superb work from [[Donald Sutherland]] and [[Timothy Hutton]], who also won the Oscar for [[Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor|Best Supporting Actor]]. The film is one of the most critically and publicly acclaimed films of the decade, winning four [[Academy Awards]], including [[Academy Award for Best Director|Best Director]] for Redford himself, and [[Academy Award for Best Picture|Best Picture]].<ref>{{cite news|url= https://www.nytimes.com/1981/04/01/movies/ordinary-people-wins-the-academy-award-for-best-picture.html|title= 'ORDINARY PEOPLE' WINS THE ACADEMY AWARD FOR BEST PICTURE|work= The New York Times|date= April 1981|accessdate= August 18, 2023|last1= Harmetz|first1= Aljean}}</ref><ref name=tca/> Critic [[Roger Ebert]] declared it "an intelligent, perceptive, and deeply moving film."<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/ordinary-people-1980|title= Ordinary People movie review|website= Roger Ebert.com|accessdate= August 18, 2023}}</ref> Later that year he appeared in the prison drama ''[[Brubaker]]'' (1980), playing a [[prison warden]] attempting to reform the system.

[[File:Redford Milagro Cannes 1988.jpg|upright|thumb|left|190px|Redford with [[Melanie Griffith]] and [[Sônia Braga]], promoting ''[[The Milagro Beanfield War]]'' at the [[1988 Cannes Film Festival]]]]
Soon after that, he starred in the baseball drama ''[[The Natural (film)|The Natural]]'' (1984).<ref name=tca/> Sydney Pollack's ''[[Out of Africa (film)|Out of Africa]]'' (1985), with Redford in the male lead role opposite [[Meryl Streep]], became a large box office success (combined 1985 and 1986 grosses placed it at No. 5 for 1986),<ref name="Michael Gebert 1996, pg. 401">Michael Gebert, ''The Encyclopedia of Movie Awards'', St. Martin's Paperbacks, New York, 1996, pg. 401.</ref> won a Golden Globe for Best Picture,<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.nme.com/news/bohemian-rhapsody-worst-reviewed-golden-globes-winner-since-80s-2429215 | title='Bohemian Rhapsody' is the worst-reviewed Golden Globes winner in 33 years | work=[[NME]] | date=January 10, 2019 | access-date=January 14, 2019 | first=John | last=Earls | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190110151752/https://www.nme.com/news/bohemian-rhapsody-worst-reviewed-golden-globes-winner-since-80s-2429215 | archive-date=January 10, 2019 | url-status=live | df=mdy-all }}</ref> and won seven [[Academy Awards|Oscars]], including Best Picture. Streep was nominated for Best Actress but Redford did not receive a nomination. The movie proved to be Redford's biggest success of the decade and Redford and Pollack's most successful of their seven movies together.<ref name=tca/> Redford's next film, ''[[Legal Eagles]]'' (1986) alongside [[Debra Winger]], was only a minor success at the box office.

Redford did not direct again until ''[[The Milagro Beanfield War]]'' (1988), a well-crafted, though not commercially successful, screen version of [[John Nichols (American writer)|John Nichols]]'s acclaimed novel of the Southwest. ''The Milagro Beanfield War'' is the story of the people of Milagro, New Mexico (based on the real town of [[Truchas, New Mexico|Truchas]] in northern New Mexico), overcoming big developers who set about to ruin their community and force them out with tax increases. Other directorial projects have included the period drama ''[[A River Runs Through It (film)|A River Runs Through It]]'' (1992), based on [[Norman Maclean]]'s novella starring [[Craig Sheffer]], [[Brad Pitt]], and [[Tom Skerritt]]. Redford received a nomination for the [[Golden Globe Award for Best Director]]. In 1994 he directed the exposé ''[[Quiz Show (film)|Quiz Show]]'' about the quiz show scandal of the late 1950s.<ref name=tca/> In the latter film, Redford worked from a screenplay by [[Paul Attanasio]] with noted cinematographer [[Michael Ballhaus]] and a strong cast that featured [[Paul Scofield]], [[John Turturro]], [[Rob Morrow]], and [[Ralph Fiennes]]. [[David Ansen]] of ''[[Newsweek]]'' wrote, "Robert Redford may have become a more complacent movie star in the last decade, but he has become a more daring and accomplished filmmaker. 'Quiz Show' is his best movie since 'Ordinary People'".<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.newsweek.com/when-america-lost-its-innocence-maybe-188338|title= When America Lost Its Innocence--Maybe|website= Newsweek|date= September 18, 1994|accessdate= August 18, 2023|last1=Ansen|first1=David|author-link=David Ansen}}</ref>

Redford continued as a major star throughout the 1990s and 2000s. He released his third film as a director, ''[[A River Runs Through It (film)|A River Runs Through It]]'', in 1992, which was a return to mainstream success for Redford as a director and brought a young [[Brad Pitt]] to greater prominence. In 1993, he played what became one of his most popular and recognized roles, starring in ''[[Indecent Proposal]]'' as a billionaire businessman who tests a couple's morals; the film became one of the year's biggest hits. He co-starred with [[Michelle Pfeiffer]] in the newsroom romance ''[[Up Close and Personal (film)|Up Close & Personal]]'' (1996), and with [[Kristin Scott Thomas]] and a young [[Scarlett Johansson]] in ''[[The Horse Whisperer (film)|The Horse Whisperer]]'' (1998), which he also directed.<ref name=tca/> Redford also continued work in films with political contexts, such as ''[[Havana (film)|Havana]]'' (1990), playing Jack Weil, a professional gambler in 1959 Cuba during the Revolution, as well as ''[[Sneakers (1992 film)|Sneakers]]'' (1992), in which he co-starred with [[River Phoenix]] and [[Sidney Poitier]].<ref>{{cite news|url= https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2021/dec/20/sneakers-robert-redford-and-river-phoenix-nerd-out-in-1992s-prescient-high-tech-caper|title= Sneakers: Robert Redford and River Phoenix nerd out in 1992's prescient, high-tech caper|website= Guardian|date= December 19, 2021|accessdate= August 18, 2023|last1= Cryer|first1= Vanessa}}</ref>