The US Open golf tournament was whacked out between rain showers this past weekend in Long Island, New York. Some 30 miles off the green in the city, I watched the Blu-ray release of the 2005 Disney movie The Greatest Game Ever Played. The movie depicts the true story of a 20-year-old amateur, Francis Ouimet (Shia LaBeouf), playing for first place in the 1913 Open.
The movie is like a three-way cross between Seabiscuit, Happy Gilmore and Matt Christopher children books. It’s like Seabiscuit for its enjoyment by the adult viewer and for its period costuming. It’s like Happy Gilmore for the goofballs and the golf balls. Both Greatest Game and Happy Gilmore are clear about golf being a gentleman’s sport—both Happy and Francis come from somewhere other than bow ties and silver cups. Hell, how gentlemanly can you really be when you are slapping at the tee with a hockey stick? And as for the Disney elements of the movie, it’s just like those Matt Christopher books. Fictional tales like “Long Shot for Paul” or “Challenge at Second Base.” They were always about sports, and the kid always won. And let’s face it, the fact that Shia LaBeouf played Francis, Disneys it right up. The man-boy brings it down from Seabiscuit to Even Stevens.
All three have another element in common with Greatest Game: the rise of the underdog. Francis grew up a caddy for the rich men who play at the country club across the lawn from his parents’ modest Massachusetts home. He’d practice at night by candlelight using a tin can lying on its side in place of a hole in the grass. The young man gets an opportunity to play with the big boys, despite his father’s wishes, and he ends up at the world-famous US Open playing two of the top players for the big silver cup.
Greatest Game is a classic sports redemption story and falls somewhere between a children’s movie and a more sophisticated film. The story has elements of both, and actor/director Bill Paxton’s filmmaking does as well. Some of the camerawork and the computer-generated imaging are mature; where in other scenes the CGI is pretty silly (unlike LaBeouf’s more recent Transformers). For instance following the ball as it cuts through trees or over a bumpy plain makes the film pop off the screen. But, pausing during a serious moment to show a close-up of a CGI ladybug landing on a golf ball before getting smacked from the ground? That’s just plain stupid. It distracts from the movie and ends up making Bill Paxton look like the amateur…not Francis Ouimet. What does a ladybug have to do with anything? I could see it being used if maybe there was one of those cheesy storylines where Francis loved ladybugs as a child and takes this as a sign he will win the tourney…but instead it was just lobbed in for special effect. Very special indeed.
For the PG-13 and younger crowd, Greatest Game is entertaining and exciting. What more could you want than an underdog man-boy with a chubby sidekick who cracks obvious jokes? For the older group, it would’ve benefited from being about 20 minutes shorter. There’s a little too much back and forth before the ball makes it to its final putting green. Unlike today, back in 1913 they played through heavy rainfall. A sea of black umbrellas surrounding the tee-offs and putting out of a lake or a sand trap made for an entertaining segment of the back and forth, but they probably should’ve cut one of the other legs of the tournament. 18 holes of golf is boring no matter how many ladybugs and butterflies you CGI into it, let alone multiple rounds. The underdog story has been done so many times, it's best to tighten it up so that instead of only captivating a young audience you can grab some adults too.
Blu-ray Bonus Features
The extras on the Blu-ray aren’t bad. You get to see some behind-the-scenes footage during the shoot of the film as well as interviews from Shia LaBeouf, Bill Paxton and others involved. It was about as interesting as you can expect from Bill Paxton talking about a kids’ movie he thinks he made for a universal audience. In addition to commentaries over the film, there are two extra features that cover golf’s history and its famous players, including Francis Ouimet. One of them is actual footage of a black and white interview with Ouimet from decades earlier. This segment was pretty interesting, but frankly a bit boring as talking about a sport like golf can only be so exciting. It’s great they included the footage on the disc, but it's almost better just to own than to actually watch.
"The Greatest Game Ever Played" is on sale June 16, 2009 and is rated PG. Biopic, Children & Family, Sports. Directed by Bill Paxton. Written by Mark Frost. Starring Elias Koteas, Josh Flitter, Marnie McPhail, Shia LaBeouf, Stephen Dillane, Stephen Marcus.
