Solid and entertaining

Rating: 9/10 (6 November 2000)

This golf fantasy was directed by Robert Redford,with his typical eye for detail and works for the most part, though if you dislike golf it may not be to your tastes. Matt Damon is a young man who was once the greatest golfer in all of Savannah, but after a stint in World War Ihe vanished into the wilds of depression, leaving his wife (a mesmerizing asalways Charlize Theron) behind. Several years later, Theron is throwing a golf tournament to try to save her late father's golf resort, and she invites tworeal life golfing legends to participate. Of course the towns people of Savannah want a local boy in the match and soon enough they hunt down Damon and talk him into participating. Of course he must recapture his long lost love of the game,in which he is aided by mysterious golfing guru Will Smith (a more subdued and effective role than usual for him). The time and place are captured quite nicely and I appreciated the fact that the other golfers weren't turned intovillains as a lesser film might have done; this film is basically Damon trying to win out over his own personal demons rather than having an external foe.Solid performances abound in a very effective film that's only flaw is its propensity to perhaps take itself a tad too seriously. GRADE: A-