Undeservedly overlooked back in 2005, Bill Paxton’s second feature ‘The Greatest Game Ever Played’ overcomes it’s stuffy on paper period golf synopsis to become a well-made sports picture, and one of the few (only?) films to actually make golf cinematically exciting.
‘Caddyshack’ and, urm, ‘Happy Gilmore’ excluded (I also have a soft spot for another overlooked golf pic, Kevin Costner’s ‘Tin Cup’), golf is a hard sport to convey in a rousing way up on the big screen – just ask Robert Redford.
Mostly old men scooting around on golf carts smacking a tiny ball, it’s no wonder that the only golf pics up to this point to work have been comedies. Yet Bill Paxton not only manages to make an entertaining golf movie, but he makes an entertaining period piece golf movie!
Despite the Disney label, it’s no surprise people weren’t exactly pushing kids and old people out of the way to see it in theaters, but this admittedly strange choice to hit Blu-ray gives the film a much-deserving second chance. Trust me, it’s more engaging than you might think and is even headlined by a prepubescent Shia LeBouf who turns in a strong performance here.
LeBouf stars as a young working-class kid, Francis Quimet, who lives just outside a golf course and who has grown up obsessing with the game. His class stature only allows him to be a caddie, of course, but his enthusiasm and spirit make fans of some of the club members.
Francis is obsessed with one star player in particular, Harry Vardon, (an excellent Stephen Dillane) a British player who was considered the best golf player to play the game at that point.
Vardon had overcome his own working-class origins (the film actually opens with a young Vardon and his family being thrown out of his house for the construction of a golf course) but regardless of his star status is still not welcomed into a class-dependent golf club.
Yet, he golf’s for himself and his country and when the U.S. threatens England’s control of the game with the U.S. open, Harry Vardon is elected join up and show the Yanks how it’s done.
Meanwhile, Quimet gets a chance to play in the tournament as an amateur in spite of his father’s (Elias Koteas) major objections and soon overcomes his family, himself and class struggles to go toe-to-toe with the best players in the game eventually finding himself in direct competition to his idol, Harry Vardon.
One of the best decisions of the movie is keeping Francis and Harry heroes in their own right – they are both fully-realized characters with their own personal demons and as the climatic golf match comes to an end, it becomes an unpredictable display of skill – there are no black or white hats here. The villains are the broadly painted golf suits who deem golf the game of ‘gentleman’ and upper-class only.
Paxton also does a great job capturing period details that gives the whole film an authentic look and feel yet punches up the visuals with some camera tricks that keep the viewer involved.
Following the golf balls in high pursuit after getting smacked, watching a ladybug slowly land on a golf ball moments before the hit, ‘Evil Dead’-like shots through the forest following hooked shots all add a necessary visceral punch to what as I said before is a sport that can be hard to present in an exciting way.
The film is presented with an AVC 1080p encode that captures the lush greens of the golf course with exquisite detail. While it’s not a period movie that’s staged with a 100-million dollar budget, all the period fine points look sharp and lived in from the costumes to the production design. The English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track accompanies the film with a nice mix of dialogue and golf atmospherics.
Special features include a fun full-length audio commentary from Bill Paxton who loves his movie and who loves talking about it. An engaging listen, this is recommended for fans of the film and the actor/director alike. Writer/Producer Mark Frost offers up his own commentary that a bit drier and goes into more historical detail.
‘A View from the Gallery’ is a fifteen featurette with the usual interviews and behind-the-scenes footage. ‘Two Legends and the Greatest Game’ is a short look at the history between Quimet and Vardon and finishing things off is the cool ‘From Caddie to Champion: Francis Quimet’ a half hour old 1963 TV program that interviews Francis Quimet at 70 years old – cool for history buffs and makes a fascinating watch after taking in the pic.
This is an easy recommend for me and makes for a compelling family movie with some nice messages wrapped up in some atmospheric period detail. Shia LeBouf and Stephen Dillane offer up some finely-nuanced performances and the Blu-ray presents it all with a nice high-def package.
The Greatest Game Ever Played [Blu-ray] is now available at Amazon . Visit the DVD database for more information.
USA
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