A spectacular feat.

Rating: 9/10 (5 April 2001)

A smart and beautifully shot old-fashioned sports tale about a young man, Rannuplh Junuh (Matt Damon) who was a rising star in golf until he left to fight in the first World War, comes home afflicted by the horrors he witnessed, and is quickly urged into playing an exhibition golf match against Bobby Jones (Joel Gretsch) and Walter Hagen (Bruce McGill).
The film boasts an excellent cast here with Damon in the lead role and backed by with some good performances by Charlize Theron as Junuh's old flame, Adele; Will Smith as Bagger Vance, a gentle caddy who comes out of the dark to help Rannulph prepare for the match, J. Michael Moncrief as the young Hardy Graves, a kid who tags along with Vance and Junuh, and Jack Lemmon also appears uncredited as the older Hardy and is the film's narrator.
Robert Redford who has directed some memorable films as "Ordinary People" and "A River Runs Through It", deserves credit for handling the film with ease and extreme care. Jeremy Leven writes a solid story and adapted it from the Steven Pressfield novel. Michael Ballhaus, the film's cinematographer, makes the movie look great with some shots of the fairways that made me think of Augusta National, where the Masters Tournament is played at. It's a shame that Ballhaus didn't get an Oscar nomination for his efforts here.
"Bagger Vance" reminded me of one thing that movies are made to make people enjoy and cherish every moment. The movie itself is a spectacular feat.