A movie about doing the right thing, authentically

Rating: 9/10 (23 March 2009)

The Legend of Bagger Vance is much more than a film about golf. As a retelling of the Bhagavad Gita, it is about life, responsibility, and overcoming one's personal demons to act--to seize the moment, and to do so with integrity, with authenticity.
In the movie, a troubled hero, Rannulph Junnah (R. Junnah, played by Matt Damon), returns a sole-survivor from the horrors of WWI riddled with doubts and detached from his life. When called to act, in this case, to represent his hometown in a golf tournament, he cannot 'find his swing', or act to his potential. At his moment of trial, a caddy appears, Bagger Vance (played by Will Smith), and leads him through. Bagger Vance shows R. Junnah 'the field'--gives him a vision of who he really can be and what he really can do if he sets aside all the 'would-have's and should-have's and could-have's.'
In the Gita, a troubled hero, Arjuna, is called on to act, but is also riddled with doubts. His charioteer, is none other than the 'beloved one'/Bhagavan, also known as Krishna or God, who shows him the field and purpose of life. In Hindu mythology, Krishna is not the hegemon of western theology, but rather playful and compassionate. Both Will Smith's portrayal of Bagger Vance and Matt Damon's of R. Junnah are delightfully true to the mythical tradition.
Both the Legend of Bagger Vance and the Bhagavad Gita encourage action without reservation and doubt. But the action is not arbitrary, but rather, completely and totally authentic. Bagger Vance teaches Junnah to find his own swing, the one he was born with. And later, Junnah finds a moment of integrity in action unparalleled in any other film. Doing the right thing when the whole world tells you not to is when authentic action truly matters.