Once again, book drubs movie, but still a good view overall

Rating: 7/10 (2 June 2006)

Having read the book last year, I finally saw the movie The Greatest Game Ever Played. I give it 3 stars (out of 4), but would only recommend it as (1) family fare (makes sense, it's a Disney movie); (2) to golfers who like the historical aspect of the story or (3) to those who might have read the book. To anyone else, the movie would largely be a snooze.
TGGEP, the movie, deviated from the book in many ways and made some of the key personalities (Wilfred Reid, to name one) disposable. But you can imagine what a task it is to cram 5 rounds of golf into just over one-half of the film. To his credit, Bill Paxton, the director, does a nice job with camera angles, special effects and capturing the personalities of the main characters including two of the real characters in the book, Ted Ray and Eddie Lowery.
I can understand why this movie bombed at the BO; golf is difficult to sell when its live and the drama is unfolding, its impossible to sell when watching a guy line up a putt that took place 90 years ago and for which you already know the result. But with the U.S. Open a few weeks away, again, it might be interesting for the historical aspect.
Credible performances all the way around keep the film from ending up out of bounds.
A brief word about Mark Frost's book. If you like golf and/or golf history and you haven't read it yet, do so immediately. It is an easy read and he wastes not a single word in describing the origins of professional golf, the players involved, class struggles, etc., and then wraps up nicely with a summary of the lives after the U.S. Open of the major characters.