Hokey Delivery of Overt Metaphor

Rating: 4/10 (26 May 2009)

Director Robert Redford weaved a spiritual metaphor into "A River Runs through It" that flowed with its plot points. He attempted to do the same with "The Legend of Bagger Vance," this time golf was the metaphor instead of fly fishing, but the spiritual message seemed more contrived, preachy, and hokey than in his previous work. It's a shame that the theme was so overt: a little subtly would have strengthened the plot, which was seriously weakened by the over-emphasis on metaphor.
Matt Damon was unconvincing as a professional golfer, spiritual journeyman, and lover to Charlize Theron. I've read other reviews criticizing the choice of Will Smith as a servile, uneducated caddy. Racism did not occur to me when I watched the movie, but in hindsight I must agree that the casting choice seems at best careless. While conveying an interesting theme, the movie was over-ambitious and, perhaps, too self-important to accomplish its goal with grace.