How Junuh Got His Swing Back !

Rating: 4/10 (13 October 2010)

Ahhh, it's not about golf. It's about knowing what you want in life and learning how to get it through golf. And it's about making not that interesting movie about all of that as well!
It sums up life, and reads people, with deep lessons, via one golf tournament. See the players; one is prurient (the oldest one) who cares only for money, women, and fame. Another one (middling-aged) who cares about winning, yet family and work too. And then our lead (the youngest) who considers the game a fully spiritual ride. As if the spirit's power proportions inversely with ageing; so as long as you're more spiritual - meaning less caring about materialistic goals - as long as you're young, and consequently live longer. Not to mention other matters that perfect with the main theme, like how life / golf is a match to beat your own weakness; ego, pains, etc. So you can find your swing; meaning your peace, where your gift / the best of you; meets its top shape, hence success. Sure they're all bright points. But not brightly delivered!
The small problems: First off, WAW, that must have been the longest heart attack anybody had in the history of mankind, and I'm referring to the one which struck Jack Lemon's character while he narrates the whole 120 minutes movie! Despite portraying it nicely, few people know about golf and its rules, and the movie just didn't help much to explain for the ignorant ones. And the music, ohh I hated that music, it's the typical soft music of Hollywood movies lately, so typical to have eventually nothing to it, being more like usual sound effects!
Then the BIG ones: it's undoubtedly Matt "The Flat Face" Demon. The guy is lower than his character, its demons, and its inner conflict, while having so little to express. His boyish sleek features just chilled the supposed fires inside. He's too cold to be silently torn. Likely actor / director (Robert Redford) wanted to cast himself in the role, or at least he saw himself in it. The role resembles some of his distinct characters over the years already. But with that suppressed desire, and that unqualified star, what we did have was the very poor man's Robert Redford as a lead!
The movie goes exactly like this: Demon plays bad, then Smith comes to straighten the guy with some cool sophisticated talk about balls and life, learning him how to get jiggy with it.. urrr.. get his swing back. Well, he gave Demon so many advices to an extent that put The Iliad's verses to shame!
Will Smith looked so idiot, and it's not his fault. He's way too young to have all of this complete wisdom. Casting Lemon instead should have been more believable. Even if the point was to indicate metaphorically how the WASP is indebted for the Afro-American, it didn't work. Especially when poor Smith got nothing to do but smiling quietly and saying fortune cookies all the way.
Then, nothing was said about who that young impeccable mentor was? Where did he come from? Or what would he gain out of his plan?, nothing said about the real calamity of the lead either; his war's bad memories, plus the mute Demon who they relayed on to speak the unspeakable. Add all of that to the previous, and you'll find that the movie is whether a parody of itself; about a black dude named Vance who shows suddenly for the bad golfers to rectify their performance for just 5 bucks (or accompany them to death free of charge!), or - at best - a dream of a lesson about getting the pureness of oneself yet imperfectly made.
Apparently, it tries to be wise and outwardly rich to end up as alleged and inwardly needy. The smooth cinematography and the romantic editing made nice colors to a hollow painting. While the movie appeals us to finding the "swing", it loses its.
Correct these flaws and you'll have the magical movie that this one wanted to be. Dear Redford, look at Smith's smile getting more and more empty and provocative as the movie goes on, to know that (Legend of Bagger Vance) missed a lot of care to be a legend, any legend, itself.