The Legend of Bagger Vance

MarlinBrando shared a tip "I posted an ask awhile back about movies based around "the greatest game ever played:" #golf. This #sports #fantasy was one of them, and I finally got around to watching it. I do seem to be on a bit of a kick with this subgenre. In this film, Matt Damon plays Rannulph Junnah, a former pro golfer from Savannah, Georgia who joined the army during World War I, and returned with a Congressional Medal of Honor, as well as PTSD and depression, after witnessing the horrors of war. Years later, Junnuh's wealthy ex-girlfriend, Adele Invergordon (Charlize Theron), decides to hold a golf tournament to save her father's crowning achievement, his golf resort, selling all her other possessions to finance it, and recruiting 2 big-name, historical golfers, showman Walter Hagen (Bruce McGill), and family man Bobby Jones to compete for the $10,000 pot (that's Depression-era money, folks). She also tries to recruit Junuh for the publicity he'll draw, but he refuses, saying he can't play anymore. Just after, while practicing in the dark, he's approached by Bagger Vance (Will Smith), who offers to caddy for Junuh for the tournament for a fee of five dollars, and teaches him to silence the distractions within and around to regain his form and game. Junuh and Vance are joined by the young boy and assistant caddy Hardy Greaves, who'd also tried to recruit Junuh for the match (and was even the one to nominate Junuh). The story is narrated by an aged Hardy (Jack Lemmon), in the midst of a heart attack on a golf course. The film was critically panned, and bombed in the box office, but I enjoyed it greatly. More high-stakes golf situations within the tournament would've made the film more dramatic, but the message of learning to let go of past trauma (while acknowledging how hard it can be) is well-handled, and the cast, with Robert Redford directing, gives glorious performances. Despite all the A-listers, you forget that you're watching actors. Beautiful camerawork. I give it 4 out of 5."