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The Legend of Bagger Vance

The Legend of Bagger Vance

List Price: $12.99
Your Price: $10.39
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 3 stars
Summary: It's a feel-good movie
Review: The Legend of Bagger Vance is a nice movie,to say the least..Although it is so optimistic and so predictable at times that it can be boring,ultimately it will leave a good taste in your mind after watching it.

Rannulph Junuh (Matt Damon) is a war veteran.He was a great golfer before going to war,but the things he has been through there changed him and he lost his "authentic swing".After coming home,he escapes from everybody,including his girlfriend Adele Invergordon (Charlize Theron).It is the era of the great depression and people are out of business.Adele decides to organize a great golf tournament,in order to attract people to her golf course,which she has to sell if she can't make money soon.For this,she invites the two greatest golfers of that time,Bobby Jones (Joel Gretsch) and Walter Hagen (Bruce McGill) to play an exhibition match.Somebody needs to represent Savannah,the hometown,and who else could it be but Junuh?As we know,he doesn't play golf anymore,that is until a mysterious character,Bagger Vance (Will Smith) shows up.He helps Junuh overcome his struggles,and maybe win the tournament,while delivering lines that seem to be about golf,but actually are about life. Matt Damon delivers a nice performance and so does Will Smith to my surprise..Golf is used as a metaphor as you can guess..The thing that I liked most about this movie was the backgrounds and the cinematography.Although many people may find it quite artificial,I think it suits the mood of the movie pretty well..And there is a cameo by Jack Lemmon so that alone may be worth it.

The DVD doesn't come with lots of extras,but the picture quality is great..

I wouldn't say this is a must-have DVD but still it is a good rent.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A good movie about the game of golf and life itself
Review: Once again director Robert Redford has made a movie that shows people the deep meaning of life, circumstances and the important choices that everyone has to make during life. This time the movie is set upon the beautiful golf courses of the South (Savannah, Georgia) during the 1920's. Redford has assembled an outstanding cast for this movie such as Matt Damon who plays Runnolph Junnah the main character, the beautiful Charlize Theron as his love interest and Will Smith as Bagger Vance the caddy and quite possibly his conscience. Without going into detail about the movie the overview is Junnah (Damon) portarys a golfer who once had great potential, but the horrors of WWI changes his views of life, and his game of Golf. Theron a Savannah socialite portrays his love interest who has almost given up on him, and Bagger Vance (Smith) a mysterious man/golf caddie who shows Junnah how to get back into the "swing" of Golf. This is a great movie with an interesting plot and having good actors who portray the legendary Bobby Jones (Joel Gresch) and Walter Hagen (Bruce McGill)add alot to the movie. Usually a child actor distracts from a movie if it is their first movie however J. Michael Moncrief does an excellent job as the young man who idolizes Junnah. Once again Redford does an outstanding job and the scenery of the golf courses makes one want to grab a club and go to the nearest golf course to discover their own "swing".

Highly Recommended!!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: At last, a great golf movie!
Review: "The game of golf cannot be won, only played." True words from Bagger Vance in a film that surprised me, as I had given up on a great golf movie ever being made. "Caddyshack" is a riot, of course, but it's a party movie that happens to take place at a country club, and "Tin Cup" is barely compelling and has one of the worst endings in movie history.

It seems odd that it's taken so long for this to happen. Golf is a subject that many people can wax poetic about at great length, its mythology being a thing of reverence. And perhaps that's why it's taken so long, because that's such a subjective, internal, personal thing, and golf is a game of one where everything is internalized. Man must face the course, the elements, and himself, let alone anyone he's in competition with.

But for me, "The Legend of Bagger Vance" is all fairways and greens, with never a bunker shot or a duck hook into the woods. Oh, sure, like the great game itself, the film occasionally falls a bit short of perfect, but only just a bit, and, again like the great game itself, it also occasionally takes my breath away in a moment of shining brilliance.

This all requires actually caring about the game of golf itself, of course, and any film that utilizes legends Bobby Jones and Walter Hagen in strong supporting roles had better get it right. Well, those two characters are right in line with everything I've ever heard and read about these two, having played and studied the game for 35 years myself, Hagen the hard-drinking womanizer and Jones the perfect Southern gentlemen. That alone is a joy to behold, but add in the scenes where we see the psychology of the game play out and we have the foundation of a great film.

The crowning touch is the way "The Legend of Bagger Vance" gets beyond the externals and helps us feel the internals that the lead character is feeling, going through his struggles on and off the golf course, rising above his long-lost game to play a truly great round of golf again, where, as Bagger says, "Completely stop thinking without falling asleep."

I'd nitpick that Matt Damon plays the lead character of Junuh with too much "I can't believe I hit that shot" on his face, and that Will Smith's title character is treated far too nicely by white folks in the Depression-Era Deep South, but as I say, the film gets the previously unachieved moments so SO right that I can't nitpick much.

Dang, now I've gotta read the book......

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: I liked the way we danced!
Review: Robert Redford's latest film is an inspiring story of life and god and man's quest to deal with the demons of war. This fertile soil is handled perfectly Redford, a director with a soft touch. The story is similar to that of A River Runs Through It, another Redford film.

The movie is set in the Savannah Georgia of the Great Depression. Rannulph Junuh, played by Matt Damon, is a war veteran and former champion golfer who has lost his authentic swing. However, he has been asked to play in an exhibition match against the two greatest golfers of his day: Bobby Jones and Walter Hagen. His Caddy is Bagger Vance, played by Will Smith. Bagger is an angel, but is a character in the mold of the Raven or Coyote trickster of Indian Legends. He is the guide who shows Junuh the way to slay his inner demons.

This movie is wonderful film and will be a delightful addition to any collection. Rating 4 1/2 Stars.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The hasbeen that never really was.
Review: I was touched By this film. The meaning of this movie to me
was . God gives all of us a mullagan every day we live.
To keep trying ,not giving up and that anything is
possable. Maybe if i keep trying i can find My swing.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Spritely Mystical Movie
Review: .
Summary Review:

A typically enchanting Robert Redford (Director) bygone era movie depicting the mystical virtues of the game of golf and nature's rhythm as philosophically symbolized in our lives. Great visuals, scenery, casting, acting and of course, directing.

Great performances all around by Will Smith (Bagger Vance), who gently leads Matt Damon (Rannulph Junuh) from his meandering, disillusioned life, back to the top of his game and back to his Socialite true love played by Charlese Theron. Jack Lemmon's reminiscent narration was just about perfect, as well.

Story:
Damon, is lost in life for years after his personal tragic experience in WWI. He is unavoidably caught up in a celebrity golf match in his home town of Savannah, GA in 1931. Previously ranked as one of the greatest players ever, he in unable to play to his previous skill level.
Junuh is without hope until a mystical caddie (Will Smith) shows up offering sage advice, support and Socratic direction.

Recommendation:

A good playful, mystical movie, like most Redford movies.

Leaves you with a warm heart.

Good movie for warm cuddling together!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A moving meditation over loving, being loved - and Golf
Review: Yes, I'm a big Robert Redford fan, and so I could not wait to see his latest movie. As it turned out, it was in tune with his other movies. Not as epic as "The Horsewhisperer", more like "A River Runs Through It". As in the latter movie, Redford used a sport as a symbol for his protagonist's search for himself. This time, the sport is golg, and the Matt Damon's character has lost his golf swing during the First World War and tries to regain it with the help of the mysterious caddy Bagger Vance and his former lover. The rather bland message of the film is, of course, that you will only excel if you are in synch with yourself. The whole movie moves quietly and unexcitedly, but Michael Ballhaus's cinematography and the actors are outstanding. Matt Damon is good in the role Redford would have played if he had been a few decades younger. Will Smith underplays his part and also gives a remarkable performance. So if you like quiet, reflective movies, well photographed, featuring good actors, this is your movie.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Bagger Vance = Bhagavad Gita
Review: Junuh = Arjuna. Will Smith is Krishna, in this movie based on the novel, which in turn was based on The Bhagavad Gita, The Song of the Lord. Reference: "There is a Spiritual Solution to Every Problem" audio by Dr. Wayne Dyer. He enjoyed the book so much that he told people to read it and then Robert Redford decided to make it into a film. The author of the book later told Dyer that it was based on the Bhagavad Gita. Wonderful film!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great family movie
Review: This is a movie the whole family would enjoy. Inspiring,touching movie. Great casting for Hardy Graves,(played by J. Michael Moncrief). Will Smith and Moncrief need to be paired together in another movie. Great chemistry together.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: At last, a great golf movie!
Review: "The game of golf cannot be won, only played." True words from Bagger Vance in a film that surprised me, as I had given up on a great golf movie ever being made. "Caddyshack" is a riot, of course, but it's a party movie that happens to take place at a country club, and "Tin Cup" is barely compelling and has one of the worst endings in movie history.

It seems odd that it's taken so long for this to happen. Golf is a subject that many people can wax poetic about at great length, its mythology being a thing of reverence. And perhaps that's why it's taken so long, because that's such a subjective, internal, personal thing, and golf is a game of one where everything is internalized. Man must face the course, the elements, and himself, let alone anyone he's in competition with.

But for me, "The Legend of Bagger Vance" is all fairways and greens, with never a bunker shot or a duck hook into the woods. Oh, sure, like the great game itself, the film occasionally falls a bit short of perfect, but only just a bit, and, again like the great game itself, it also occasionally takes my breath away in a moment of shining brilliance.

This all requires actually caring about the game of golf itself, of course, and any film that utilizes legends Bobby Jones and Walter Hagen in strong supporting roles had better get it right. Well, those two characters are right in line with everything I've ever heard and read about these two, having played and studied the game for 35 years myself, Hagen the hard-drinking womanizer and Jones the perfect Southern gentlemen. That alone is a joy to behold, but add in the scenes where we see the psychology of the game play out and we have the foundation of a great film.

The crowning touch is the way "The Legend of Bagger Vance" gets beyond the externals and helps us feel the internals that the lead character is feeling, going through his struggles on and off the golf course, rising above his long-lost game to play a truly great round of golf again, where, as Bagger says, "Completely stop thinking without falling asleep."

I'd nitpick that Matt Damon plays the lead character of Junuh with too much "I can't believe I hit that shot" on his face, and that Will Smith's title character is treated far too nicely by white folks in the Depression-Era Deep South, but as I say, the film gets the previously unachieved moments so SO right that I can't nitpick much.

Dang, now I've gotta read the book......


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