In recent years, Walt Disney Studios has been releasing heartfelt sports movies the whole family can enjoy. The most recent installment is the golf film "The Greatest Game Ever Played," and for the most part it is another success.
Directed by Bill Paxton, the film follows events in the life of Francis Ouimet, a working class ex-caddy who went on to play in the 1913 U.S. Open at the age of 20. Since golf at the time was considered a gentleman's game dominated by the British and Scottish elite, the main villain Ouimet faces off against is prejudice. Ouimet must also fight against his father, who does not see golf as an acceptable career choice, as well as Harry Vardon, the greatest golfer of all time who comes from Great Britain to compete in the U.S. Open to retain the title - as much for himself as for King and Country.
Because this is a Disney film, there is also a small and useless subplot involving an upper class girl. Its only purpose is to reiterate the idea that he's involved in a class struggle. While the notion of prejudice is quite true to life for the period, it is beat into the viewer's head, detracting slightly from the overall experience.
The casting in this film is a masterstroke. Shia LaBeouf, a great choice for Ouimet, gives an earnest performance as a man attempting to rise above his station through the game he loves. While the film can at times become a little schmaltzy, one cannot help but smile as LaBeouf works his way toward a U.S. Open Championship victory. Stephen Dillane also does a fantastic job as Harry Vardon, who understands Ouimet's ambition and respects him greatly for what he is attempting to accomplish. Dillane's performance is reserved, and he only blusters when it is called for in the script, fitting for a man following a similar path to Ouimet and knowing that he is coming to the end of his run. Honorable mentions go out to Stephen Marcus as Vardon's friend and countryman, Ted Ray, and Josh Flitter as Ouimet's pint-sized caddy, a character with enough spunk to sink a battleship. Both of these actors provide moments of comic relief that lighten the mood of the film considerably.
Bill Paxton, who previously directed the thriller "Frailty," handles this family oriented project well. On a purely visual level, the film looks great, with rich colors and accurate sets and costuming. On the sport side of the movie, golf is hardly football or hockey; it is slow to play and takes a long time to watch. To show as many rounds of golf as are played in the movie would take too long, but the cunning use of computer graphics and time-lapse effects keeps the picture moving along at a good clip while still showing important holes, maintaining tension over the outcome.
Along that same vein, the soundtrack and its hardly subtle musical cues are a major part of the film. Brian Tyler's score is used to great advantage to pick up the pace of the film as well as to build emotion in several scenes.
Paxton has put together a movie that is better than "The Rookie," but not quite as solid as last year's "Miracle." Overall, the film looks and sounds good, is capable of pulling at heartstrings as well as raising spirits, and has a cast that does not have to work very hard to pull off memorable performances.
