It was THIS close

Rating: 7/10 (15 April 2006)

The Legend of Bagger Vance is one of the most difficult movies to evaluate that I've yet come across. Permit me to get this out of the way immediately: I promise that you will enjoy this movie, unless you come from one of two particular categories:
1. Serious golf fanatics; 2. Serious film-making fanatics. That is to say, if you're the kind that pays as much attention to each shot, how it was arranged, how the script flows, etc., this movie will irritate you.
The movie is headlined by two of the best actors of our generation, Will Smith (Bagger Vance) and Matt Damon (Rannulph Junuh). Junuh is a legendary young golfer who goes off to war, sees his entire company killed, and returns a shattered shell of a man. Brought up by fate (and his old flame, Adele Invergordon) to compete in the greatest golf match ever yet seen against legends Bobby Jones and Walter Hegen, Junuh has to rediscover himself, with the aid of an unlikely source, a young black caddy named Bagger Vance who pops out of nowhere.
Matt Damon has been excellent in nearly every film in which I've seen him, but not this one: Damon clearly is uncomfortable with the role. He shines in a couple particular scenes (most notably his dressing-room talk with young Hardy and his flashbacks to the war) that don't actually involve golf, but overall he isn't very believable as Junuh. This film also, parenthetically, finally made me understand why an actor as talented as Damon has spent his career on the B list and not the A list: He's consistently just about unwatchably bad in romantic scenes and never seems to develop any real chemistry with any actress. It's his one big weakness, and in Hollywood it's a glaring weakness. It shows in The Legend of Bagger Vance, too.
Will Smith -- and here I may diverge from the general opinion -- turns in a fantastic performance as the mysterious Bagger Vance. He carries Damon for a lot of the film and shows off his underrated versatility. Anyone out there who dislikes Smith because you think of him as a loudmouth -- I highly recommend you watch him in this film. He's the black Robin Williams, an extraordinarily talented actor who's cast himself into one too many slapstick comedies.
I would say the biggest thing this film has going for it is the spectacular performance of the supporting cast. Charlize Theron is very believable as Adele Invergordon. J. Michael Moncrief (who?) also dazzles as the young child Hardy Greaves, who idolizes Junuh and serves as his forecaddy for the tournament, and the story is told through the nostalgic eyes and voice of the aged, near-death Hardy Greaves (Jack Lemmon in his final appearance). Joel Gretsch as Bobby Jones and the underrated Bruce McGill as Walter Hegen are tremendous. Gretsch especially is outstanding, managing to provide a very believable rendition of Bobby Jones, who is to this day considered by many the greatest golfer who ever lived (the story is fictional but it makes use of the two greatest golfers of its time; Bobby Jones and Walter Hegen were real golfers.)
Given everything above plus the tremendous story borrowed from the book of the same name, you would think this movie would be a complete home run. It is worth watching and enjoyable, but it isn't everything it could be. It moves the story forward in a herky-jerky fashion, and most notably, we skip almost instantly from Junuh's meeting Bagger Vance to the beginning of the big tournament, which is just disorienting. The tournament itself is very well-done if a little dragged out, and the movie concludes on a very emotional, bittersweet note.
The two things, then, that hold this film back from being a true classic are 1. Its odd, confusing pacing, and 2. Damon, whose performance is subpar but you can never quite put your finger on why. Still, I'll finish where I started: Avoid this film if you're an avid golf nut (as the actual golfing is at times highly unrealistic) or a film nut (as the pacing and some of the script will drive you insane). I like golf and play it often; I like movies and watch them often. I'm fanatical about neither, and I love The Legend of Bagger Vance despite its flaws. If you haven't seen it yet, you won't regret renting it some rainy Friday night.