Hey folks, Harry here with that shark vomit Quint spouting off about THE LEGEND OF BAGGER VANCE... Now, I can tell you... 19 year old obese film geeks are not the target audience for a movie about pretty folk putting around a green with nice diffused lighting and and immaculate sunsets... but... the movie worked for Quint... Now... could it be that the movie set the mood for a night of love? Well... only Bruce can tell, but his mouth is full... Here ya go with Quint's look at THE LEGEND OF BAGGER VANCE... which I see tomorrow night....
Ahoy there, my fine sea squirts. Everybody's favorite crusty ol' seaman here, this time with a short look at Robert Redford's newest directorial offering, The Legend of Bagger Vance.
Nothing much happened before the screening. I didn't kill any man-eating sharks, thus had nothing to bring back to the taxidermy man. Oh well. Next time.
After I docked, I washed some of my crust off, then combed my hair (hey, once a week isn't bad!). Sneak preview pass in hand, I pick up my wench and headed off to the theater.
The movie wasn't bad. As a matter of fact, it was pretty damn good. Not terribly exciting, but not boring either, which was a pleasant surprise. As you can tell by the trailer, it is beautifully shot. Those scant moments in the trailer hold true throughout the entire film. There might have been one too many widescreen sunset shots, or widescreen grassland in the moonlight shots, but they were still breathtaking nonetheless.
While the trailer gives an accurate peek into the visual style, it does misrepresent the tone of the film. The trailer makes the film seem a lot more serious than it really is. I'd lean this film into the light drama/light comedy category.
The story, for those that haven't seen the trailer, centers on a down and out golfer, Rannulph Junuh (played by Matt Damon) who was a Savannah, Georgia town hero in the 1910's. A homegrown golf master. He goes off to fight "the war to end all wars" (WW1) and comes back a changed man. He has lost his swing. He gives up golf, his town and the woman he loves and lives the next 12 years at the bottom of a bottle of booze, the cheap stuff mates.
He finally comes home during the great depression which has hit the town hard. His former flame Adele (Charize Theron), daughter of one of the richest families in town, is trying to get her father's world class golf resort off the ground. Her father sunk just about every penny he had in the construction of the golf course before the Depression hit. When it failed to draw anybody in due to the depression, he killed himself, leaving a stack of debt for his daughter.
The city officials try to buy it from her for 1/10th what her father paid to build it. She refuses, but that stack of bills keeps growing. She decides the only way to keep the golf course is to attract all the big money that's left in the US by hosting the most fabulous golf game ever put together. It pairs the two best golfers in the country, Bobby Jones (Joel Gretsch) and Walter Hagen (Bruce McGill), old time rivals and golf equals going head to head one last time.
The officials of Savannah, the ones who want to buy the course to turn a heavy lumber profit, refuse to let the tournament happen. They will only agree to it if Savannah can be represented. Thus, Matt Damon's down and out Junuh is called upon and gets one more chance to find his swing and regain his lost glory.
He refuses at first, then meets Bagger Vance (Will Smith) who shows him the right path on finding his swing again. Then it's a head to head grudge match of a golf game with Junuh's swing, Adele's father's golf course and both Jones's and Hagen's reputations on the line.
The acting:
-MATT DAMON- He does his thing and does it well. He pulled off a very decent southern accent. He and Will Smith have some great chemistry that pays off in some honestly funny moments.
-WILL SMITH- Proves he can act. How about that? All too often he falls into his Fresh Prince mode, but being that this film takes place in the late 1920s, he couldn't just slip back into his typical early '90s slang whenever he's called upon to add dimension to his character. That's not to say I don't enjoy his previous work. I think he's really funny. But in this film he shows that he can create an extremely likable character on a different level than he's shown us before. It might have helped that he didn't have a tie-in rap song, but I'm not too sure.
-CHARLIZE THERON- Doesn't get naked. Sorry guys. Go rewatch Devil's Advocate if that's all you're looking for. She does her job well, but has most of her scenes stolen by either Matt Damon or Will Smith. Even though her character is the main driving force of Damon's motivation, she ends up being rather secondary.
The directing:
-ROBERT REDFORD- As I mentioned above, the man knows how to shoot a landscape. He also knows how shoot his actors (hehe). The camera setups, framing and lighting all flourish under his direction. The actors all play off each other well and the film is well paced. It's not Redford's most memorable film, but it's certainly not his whisperer... errr... worst, I mean.
The golf:
One of my absolute least favorite sports, but Redford managed to make the competition scenes (roughly 40% of the movie) very interesting. For one, this is where Damon and Smith play off each other the most. And that's the best part about the film. Their interaction makes the movie, it's that good. It makes you wish they were in every scene of the movie together.
So, this movie isn't boring to me, someone who can barely stand putt-putt golf. That should mean it won't be boring to you guys, especially those in love with beautiful scenery. Point one for Legend of Bagger Vance. There is no Will Smith rap song tie-in that rips off the beat to a classic funk song. Score point two for LoBV. Jack Lemmon narrates the film and does it very well. Point 3 for LoBV. Charlize Theron doesn't get naked. Oops. Minus one point for LoBV, now standing at 2. Bruce McGill doesn't get naked!!!! SCORE 6 points to LoBV!
Six points equals not too bad! Seriously, this film is very well done. Don't let the fact that it's about golf scare you off. This is most definately worth a matinee.
'Till next time, squirties! Farewell and adieu.
-Quint
The Crusty Seaman can be reached here! AiCnQuInT@aOl.CoM
