My Favorite and one of the most underrated and undervalued movies of all time

Rating: 10/10 (13 January 2012)

This movie is the best of the best. Many will disagree but for me, its my favorite movie of all time behind the dark knight and the lord of the rings trilogy. This movie grasps the essence of film making as an art form. In other words, great and beautiful cinematography.
When people first judge this movie they will probably see it as just your normal sports movie and in this case its golf. I am a golfer but you can absolutely hate golf and still enjoy this movie. Being a golfer really only helps with the technicalities of the sport, which the movie minimally shows.
The movie is just one big metaphor for someone who is need of faith. In this movie that person is Junah, played by Matt Damon (whos performance is excellent), Junah was one of the highest praised upcoming golfers in the 1920s but after serving in WWI and becoming a war hero, he suffers from memories of battle and has lost his faith in just about anything from his old girlfriend, Adele, played by Charlize Theron (another great performance), his faith in talents, and especially his faith in life, which the movie centers on.
Just when Junah's faith is nearly gone for good while horribly swing golf balls in his backyard, Bagger Vance, played by Will Smith, (greatest actor today and a legendary performance), comes out of nowhere, like an angel(WINK WINK) and immediately tries helping Junah.
This movie is just one big metaphor of an angel who is disguised as a golf caddy and is uplifting the faith of a person in need. Golf is just the format or stage they use to translate this message in a different way.
You know Bagger is an angel because he never receives nearly any of the rewards he should receive after all the help he has given Junah, his spiritually perfect advice (like an angels would be), and at the end there is a clear give away when Hardy(the little boy, the narrator, and the old man in the beginning and end of the film) dies from a heart attack on the golf course and wakes up in heaven(which is still the golf course he was playing on) to see Bagger waving to him in his ageless form. This is also showing that the movie suggest heaven isn't this big epic white scenery of clouds but instead a place that you are the most happy.
I'm not a very religious person but this movie is a religious/spiritual/life experience that is great in all areas from storyline, script,acting, directing, and cinematography. You will be moved after watching this.
So for the people who haven't seen it....watch it. For the people who have but didn't realize the real story behind it...watch it again and my mind blown....and for the people who have watched it and did get the memo....watch it again and still be blown away and entertained like I am every time.
10/10 obviously.