MoPoshy Absolutely brilliant

Dynamixor The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

FirstWitch A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

Bea Swanson This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

grantss Rannulph Junuh was once a great golfer but serving in WW1 has left him a shell of his former self. He is invited to play in a exhibition golf tournament - the only other two competitors are two all-time greats, Bobby Jones and Walter Hagen. Junuh is then approached by a mysterious man who offers to be his caddie - Bagger Vance.Entertaining at times, but mostly predictable and trite. The plot is far-fetched, holey and filled with platitudes. Fairly good acting by Matt Damon and Charlize Theron. Will Smith overdoes the home-spun advice witticisms and his character, that of Bagger Vance, becomes irritating.Directed by Robert Redford. He is capable of much better efforts, as "Ordinary People", "Quiz Show" and "A River Runs Through It" demonstrated.

blanche-2 I haven't read any other reviews of this, but I'm surprised to see such a low rating."The Legend of Bagger Vance" from 2000 is a Robert Redford movie about one of his favorite topics - sports. This time it's golf.The story begins with an elderly man (Jack Lemmon) having a heart attack while playing golf. Lying on the ground, he talks about his love of golf and tells a story set in the post-World War I era.In Savannah, there was a promising young golfer, Rannulph Junuh (Matt Damon) who went to fight in WW I and saw his entire battalion killed, except for him. He disappears, and does not return to Savannah for 15 years, and now spends his time drinking and playing cards. His old girlfriend Adele (Charlize Theron), never heard from him and has moved on with her life.Adele's father has died, and left her a fabulous resort area but no one can afford to visit these days of the Depression. But Adele knows there are still people with money out there. She decides to sell everything she owns and have a golf tournament between Bobby Jones and Walter Hagen (Joel Gretsch and Bruce McGill) with the prize being $10,000.Her board agrees but they want someone from Savannah to participate. A young boy, Hardy Greaves, who idolizes Rannulph, wants him to play and is in fact present when Adele tries to seduce Rannulph into playing. Eventually he gives in. But he finds he can't swing anymore.One night while practicing his swing in the dark, a vagrant named Bagger Vance (Will Smith) approaches him and offers to be his caddie for $5. What he shows Rannulph goes beyond his golf swing - it shows him to get through any challenge in life.This is a Field of Dreams type of film, and it's wonderful. It's about letting go of pain and learning who you are and what you can achieve, no matter the knocks you take in life. It's not only beautifully photographed but well directed and well acted.Will Smith is fantastic as the easygoing Bagger, his eyes and smile carrying the secret to life as he guides Rannulph. Charlize Theron has an outrageous southern accent, but she's very likable and beautiful. Matt Damon as Rannulph is a man burdened by the past, frustrated by the present, but with a winning smile who finally realizes he has to go for it.I have two problems with this film: One is, don't tell me Bobby Jones was that good-looking; and secondly, The Public Enemy, shown on a theater marquee, was released in 1931. Bobby Jones' last game, which he tells Rannulph this game will be, was in 1930.I thought the end was beautiful, particularly because this was Jack Lemmon's last film.I guess I don't understand a lot of the criticism about the movie being embarrassing. Perhaps I'm not as politically correct as I should be. I still thought it was a great movie.

jc-osms I know Americans love their golf, but even as a golf-lover and player myself, it seems to me it is a difficult sport in which to impart cinematic drama and though beautiful to look at, Robert Redford's gentle film treads a little too gently on the grass to really satisfy.Redford's recreation of the American South is gorgeous if sanitised to the point of caricature. The rich seem too rich and the poor too poor and for another thing there's a distinct lack of the expected good ol' boy prejudice in the air around Will Smith's black caddie. If, as others have suggested, this is down to his character's supernatural influence on everyone, why make him black at all? I wasn't completely convinced by the elusive nature of his Bagger Vance, even as I get the Hindu allusions in his character name and metaphysical impact on Matt Damon's Junuh character as helps him to "find himself" at the same time upholding the sportsmanship of the game of golf as it used to be.I just thought the Zen and the golf made for awkward bed-fellows plus I also thought it wrong to accredit Damon's character with the key moment of sportsmanship in the film (when he calls a foul on himself that no-one else sees) when in real-life this was actually done by Bobby Jones himself, here portrayed merely as one of Junuh's playing partners.As for the acting, I usually like Matt Damon but felt his "little-boy-lost" depiction seemed shallow, ditto Will Smith's beatific Vance while I also Charlize Theron's southern belle character a bit too rich and loud for my taste. Director Redford's cinematography as indicated is all soft-focus and golden-hued, tributing a by-gone age and there are some nice unobtrusive special effects inserted into the golf match between the two golfing greats and Damon's Junuh, especially the floodlit finale, but for me a golf-ball rolling into a hole just doesn't make for great cinema, unlike say a knockout punch at golf or a home-run hit in baseball.This is a lovingly made film by all concerned but I think in the end think I might have preferred a couple of hours myself on an actual golf course than cosy up to Redford's just- too-nice fantasy film.

mm-39 A great film. The idea of Will Smith and Matt Damon golfing together sounds more like an awful comedy. Caddy Shack 3 crosses my mind lol! The Legend of Bagger Vance is a great film on several fronts. The characters are well developed. Will Smith plays an honest/mysterious character. Matt Damon's excellent performance of a man with many inner demons, who hides from others. The other supporting characters around the golf community build on the story and create a positive spirit towards the story's climax of the golf tournament. The director blends an entertaining story with social messages. Can Damon win the golf tournament, and inspire people? Sportsmanship, professionalism, doing the right thing, and having ethics is spun as the characters develop. The Legend of Bagger Vance explains the mystery of the Will Smith's character. Inspiring, and entertaining. I give The Legend of Bagger Vance a par 8 out of 10.