Marvelous film, but maybe because I'm a golfer and understand the sports metaphor for life.

Rating: Null/10 (3 April 2001)

CAUTION -- MAY CONTAIN A SPOILER OR TWO --
To grasp this film one must first understand that it is a legend - " commonly, a non-historical or unverifiable story handed down by tradition from earlier times." Thus, this legend, of Bagger Vance, the "caddy" may represent a real person, or it may be a mythical person. That isn't terribly important, but what is important is the message that one must find and keep your innate "swing", your soul, to be happy. Bagger comes into Junah's life at a critical time simply to help him realize this. The golf match between him and two real golfers, Bobby Jones and Walter Hagen, is simply the vehicle for Junah's finding himself.
Junah plays badly, hasn't found "his swing" yet, is 12 strokes behind after 18 holes! Bagger gets to him between rounds and gets back 4 strokes in the second 18 that afternoon. The second day was the other 36 holes.
At a critical point, on the last hole of the 72-hole match, as Junah prepares to hit his approach, and is clearing a small twig from near his ball, the ball moves a little. An almost imperceptibility distance. Even his two competitors try to convince him it probably was just an illusion. How Junah handles this situation actually is the climax of the whole story, because as we golfers know, it is the only game where you are expected to call a penalty on yourself. Junah calls the penalty, hits a great approach at dusk in the headlights of surrounding cars. His competitors both 2-putt, and he has to sink his to tie the match which no one expected him to even do well in. He now is "in the zone", all the onlookers disappear, he "sees" a green path to the hole, and calmly sinks the putt. He has found his swing, his soul.
As we see in the movies first few scenes, Junah had been a teen golf phenom, fought in WW-I, came back jaded and bitter. Spurned his girl (Charlize Theron), began gambling and drinking, went out by lamplight to hit balls after being asked to be in the big match, which was set up to try and save the golf course resort property after Theron's father killed himself because of the depression and the prospect of being financially devastated. As Junah is hitting balls badly, Bagger appears in the mist and begins his mission to help Junah.
Redford has made this story into a very nice film. No doubt, it helps to be a golfer, and it also helps to have already reached that point in life where you've figured out that there is more to sports that "who wins."