An Intensely Personal, Beautifully Photographed, and Musically Score Movie

Rating: 9/10 (16 January 2019)

26 June 2013. There aren't very many golf movies and this one is THE golf movie that seemingly explodes on the screen with an amazing opening series of animated, antiqued colored titles and then with an brilliant display of cinematography and one of the most emotively, provocative musical scores, this almost epic feeling movie about 20-year-old Francis Ouimet ultimately leads to the climatic last third of the movie of the real life 18 U.S. Open Championship that pit young American amateur against the British Open Champion Harry Vardon. Perhaps the only mild weakness was the balance between the portrayal of Ouimet and interestingly a decent effort at simultaneously incorporating some of Vardon's background and personal presentation. This movie avoids the typical stereotypical, over dramatized love affair, and enhances the personal conflict between father and son. Unlike the more mainstream fictional romantic dram Tin Cup (1996) starring Kevin Costner, that decently performs using golf as its major theme, it nevertheless doesn't stand out among its genre whereas The Great Game reverberates with a strong echo of Costner's own epic Dances with Wolves (1990) with its the original music of Brian Tyler and the rich and truly inspirational personal story being told using compelling photography and a script that richly involves the audience. Perhaps the closest in terms of excellence is the somewhat more ethereal The Legend of Bagger Vance (2000) whose focus is both on Matt Damon and Wil Smith as the mysterious caddy and diminished somewhat by the inclusion of an extra character who uses a flashback technique and doesn't quite have that consistent cinematographic or as emotionally gripping a storyline. Other movies that might be comparable include Robert Redford's baseball movie The Natural (1984) and even that movie doesn't capture the focus and intensity and richness of its sport at The Greatest Game, or another baseball movie Brad Pitt's excellent Money Ball (2011) or the horse movie Seabiscuit (2003), the personal redemption tale of Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler (2008). In some interesting respects The Great Game is a more naturalized vision of reality in juxtaposition to the more glorified but just as compelling and appealing as Leonardo di Caprio's The Great Gatsby (2013) or stylized version of The Artist (2011).