Must love golf...otherwise it's just a well made about stuff you really don't care about in the first place.

Rating: 6/10 (28 May 2018)

I have a confession. I hate golf and see no purpose in playing golf and would rather watch a blank television screen than a golf tournament. So it's a very hard sell trying to get me to like a film about the topic. The only reason I rented the picture from Netflix was because it was included in Leonard Maltin's book "151 Best Movies You've Never Seen" and I am trying to watch all 151 films. Plus, it IS possible I might enjoy the film despite myself.
I dare say that I am NOT unusual in not liking golf. In fact, most movie viewers don't like golf. So it makes me wonder why Disney Studios made the film in the first place. And, despite being a well made movie, it didn't do particularly well at the box office.
The movie was directed by Bill Paxton, the late actor who only directed a few projects. This is surprising, because the film is well made all around and doesn't look like the work of a relative newbie. Technically speaking, it is well crafted...with some lovely acting, gorgeous camerawork and some odd but innovative CGI. I liked the look and feel of the film a lot. But there also were a few problems. Although the story of Francis Ouimet is compelling, the filmmakers chose to change some of the details...changes that seemed unnecessary. The biggest was making the match as close as they did in the film when Ouimet actually destroyed his two competitors in the tie-breaker. A few things also felt a bit like chiches--the father who hated his son playing the game THAT much, the fact that the 10 year-old caddy was THAT cute and precocious, the amount of class warfare in the story and a bit more. Much of this just felt like cinematic plot devices meant to inspire the audience more...when the story itself, warts and all, was more than enough already.
Overall, this is a film golf lovers would die to see...and for good reason. But as for the rest of us, even if well made...who really wants to see a golf picture?