One of the better American films to be released in 2005

Rating: 8/10 (30 October 2005)

I hate sports movies, but I found this one exceptionally well done. Kudos to Bill Paxton on his sophomore effort and his second good film, after the flawed but unforgettable Frailty. The Greatest Game Ever Played doesn't offer any surprises plotwise, but the level of acting and the depth that Paxton finds in the material certainly is surprising. Shia LaBeouf plays a working-class young man who is great at golf, and ends up playing against, and doing well against pros in the US Open. The film uses the class issues that come with the game of golf to add a lot of nuance. Paxton's direction and the editing during the Open (which lasts most of the movie) are excellent, and it is certainly one of the most gripping sports movies I've ever seen. LaBeouf is exceptional, as are many of the supporting performances. The performance that's getting all the press for the film is from Josh Flitter, a 10 year-old who plays LaBeouf's caddy. Yeah, he's cute and funny, and the energy he adds is probably needed for a lot of the audience. But, to me, he seemed pretty obviously there just to be cute, and just to keep a segment of the audience from getting bored. If not for the utterly cliché and pointless my-father-doesn't-approve-of-me subplot, this film would be one of the best of the year. As it is, if it had had a little more press, it would have been a sure-shot for the Seabiscuit slot in the Best Picture category.