Daily Texan Staff
Jack Lemmon narrates The Legend of Bagger Vance while he lies unconscious on a golf course. The question is whether or not Lemmon is suffering from a heart attack as the movie suggests, or if he just fell asleep from boredom thinking about the inspirational story he regurgitates for the next two-and-a-half-hours. Robert Redford's latest attempt at warming audiences' hearts moves at the same speed of the game it represents, and finishes way below par.
Adele, a spoiled Southern belle, played by Charlize Theron, plans the greatest golf tournament the South has ever seen to revive her deceased father's country club during the Depression. The match includes the two greatest golfers in the world, Bobby Jones (Joel Gretsch) and Walter Hagen (Bruce McGill). But the people of Savannah are not satisfied with these "Yankees" and demand a native Savannah golfer play in the tournament. A young boy (Lemmon as a child) remembers Rannulph Junuh (Matt Damon), a great golfer from Savannah who disappeared into a drunken stupor after the War. Junuh is skeptical about picking up the club, but the child and his former lover Adele convince him.
The problem is that Junuh thinks he's lost his swing. The strange shadow of a potential caddie approaches Junuh from darkness. His name: Bagger Vance. His mission: to help Junnuh find his "one authentic swing."
Redford has a habit of making his favorite sports metaphors for life in his films. Fly-fishing did the job in A River Runs Through It, and in The Horse Whisperer, horse training served his purpose. Golf is his most recent metaphor in The Legend of Bagger Vance. Lemmon describes golf as "a game that cannot be won, only played" and the "one authentic swing" Vance preaches about throughout the movie is an attempt at convincing everyone of their one true purpose in life.
Bagger Vance (Will Smith) is a curious caddie full of wisdom and is most certainly sent from Heaven. While Smith's performance as the inspirational caddie is delightful, the dialogues between Vance and Junuh are so filled with cliches that hardly any sparks fly between them.
Theron is less than impressive as the assertive Adele, which puts a damper on the chemistry between her and Damon's Junuh. The real acting talent came in the form of a 12-year-old boy. J. Michael Moncrief is exceptional in his debut role and his scenes with Smith are the most credible of all the scenes in Bagger Vance.
Redford does capture the eminent beauty of the South with his soft landscape shots and deep yellow tones. What he doesn't capture is any sense of suspense or complexity. The story, adapted from a novel by Jeremy Leven, is so filled with inspiration that it sugarcoats realism. For example, no question of racism is ever addressed. The story is set in the South during the Depression, yet white men play poker and go drinking with black men and Bagger Vance, a stranger in Savannah, can prance onto the golf course and give white men unwanted advice. And as for sweet Adele the love of her life goes off to war and forgets all about her while her father looses his fortune and eventually commits suicide.
The Legend of Bagger Vance attempts to make golf spiritual, and it succeeds on a very superficial level. For golf buffs, the movie will entertain on pure content and for Will Smith fans, it will also prove enjoyable. But as little more than a pretty movie to look at, Bagger Vance falls into the Chicken Soup for the Soul category of film; it leaves you feeling guilty for being even briefly inspired.
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