Great sports-drama

Rating: 8/10 (29 November 2015)

Great sports-drama.
The (mostly) true story of the 1913 US Open Golf tournament. In particular the lives of the two main protagonists, the legendary Harry Vardon, the first superstar of golf, and the unheralded Francis Ouimet. Shows what lead them to that event, and their personal drivers and demons.
An exciting telling of an actual event. You're kept on tenterhooks until the very end. The backstories are interesting too.
Solid performances from Shia LeBeouf and Stephen Dillane in the lead roles.
On the downside, this is Disney, so some of the characters and plot are dumbed-down for kids. The villains are stereotypical, predictable and one-dimensional. Some occurrences don't make complete sense, especially from a golf perspective and have been changed for dramatic purposes.
Fortunately, Disney doesn't overdo the stereotypes and dramatizations, so they don't detract from the movie too much.