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May 22, 2008
The Greatest Game Ever Played (2005)
Should I see it?
Yes.


Short Review: Not the greatest movie ever made.



This film follows the quick rise of Francis Ouimet, who goes from caddy to playing in the 1913 U.S. Open. We follow the young man from his meager beginnings as a caddy through to the big game where he is set up against golf legend Harry Vardon. The match up is akin to an unknown twenty-year-old amateur finding himself playing against Tiger Woods today.

The first act of this film may dissuade you from going further. The opening act is clunky and forced. Director Bill Paxton who is usually referenced via his thirty years of acting work by people saying “you know, that guy - what’s his name, you know…that guy from Aliens, “Game over man!”, yeah him!”, tries far too hard for much of this film. The opening act pushes the class struggle Ouimet and Vardon cope with throughout their careers. The old notion of class is a serious part of this piece and has its place. Neither Vardon or Ouimet are “gentlemen” and they are reminded of this deficiency constantly throughout the film. They are viewed as talented pawns for those in high society. The drumbeat of class issues throughout the first act makes it difficult to get through. Once through these clumsy efforts the film quickly becomes fun and well paced. The U.S. Open, and the events directly surrounding it, are very well done and make this a worthy movie overall.

The biggest problem with the film is Paxton getting in the way of his own work. There are a plethora of overly complicated shots and special effects that are clearly not needed and distract from the real action on the screen. Paxton pulls out at least a dozen shots where the camera “follows” the path of a flying golf ball by putting us directly behind it (reminiscent of Scorsese’s obtuse pool table camerawork in The Color of Money.) The numerous special shots Paxton lays out do not necessarily add to the piece and implies he didn’t feel the game itself was interesting enough on its own. The game was interesting. It is the ultimate real life underdog sports story.

The story is helped along a great deal by some superb acting by Shia LaBeouf as Francis Ouimet. LaBeouf carries the piece and brings an honest performance to the screen as the young man who finds himself in the middle of an historic event. He is a great conduit for the audience to understand the enormity of Ouimet’s success. There is also a fine performance by Stephen Dillane as the legendary Harry Vardon. Dillance gives a quiet performance as the master golfer and plays well against LaBeouf. Supporting these two are solid performances from Stephen Marcus as TedRay and twelve year-old Josh Flitter as Ouimet's caddy Eddie Lowery. Flitter's performance is notably good in its confidence and in his delivery. He and LaBeouf have some playful moments together on screen that left me wanting more interactions from the duo.

This is a good sports film and probably the second best golf film ever made (sorry, Caddyshack simply will never be beaten.) Given a sturdier director, this could have been a far better production. This is a shame given how good this story is and how inspiring it can be to see. While an enjoyable film, with a more adept hand, the story of Francis Ouimet could have been the greatest sports film ever made.


Related Reviews:
Another golf movie
Bobby Jones: A Stroke of Genius


Other Critic's Reviews:
Hoosier Review
The Village Voice

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posted by Michelle Obama's Left Nut at 9:40 PM




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