Bobby Jones - Stroke Of Genius Review
by Laura Clifford (laura AT reelingreviews DOT com)May 3rd, 2004
BOBBY JONES: STROKE OF GENIUS
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Atlanta lawyer 'Big Bob' Jones (Brett Rice, "Monster") imports Scottish golf pro Stewart Maiden (Alistair Begg) to witness the pitiful putts he and his colleagues practice at their beautiful new course. Stewart, spying Jones's six-year-old (Devon Gearhart), asks his brother 'Is that wee boy touched in the head?' but the sickly kid is just fascinated by the game. Stewart makes young Bobby his first set of clubs never dreaming that he would go on to become the only man ever to win golf's Grand Slam in "Bobby Jones: Stroke of Genius."
James Caviezel ("The Passion of the Christ") suffers for a sport in this period turn, but he is too remote and it's his supporting stars who shine. Director Rowdy Herrington ("Striking Distance," who also cowrote with Bill Pryor) achieves a nice look for his film (cinematography by Tom Stern, "Mystic River") but his unbalanced structure is too front-loaded making the film a long, if fitfully engaging, sit.
The world of 1920s golf pits Great Britain's long history, particularly Scotland's St. Andrews, against the upstart American South. As Bobby grows, his 'special swing' is duly noted, especially by fawning sports reporter O.B. Keeler (Malcolm McDowell, "The Company") when the fourteen year old enters the Georgia Amateur Championship, but the lad can never quite seem to win anything. (Gearhart, believable casting as a young Caviezel, is inexplicably replaced by the stocky, squinty-eyed Thomas Lewis for the fourteen year old rendition.) Bobby is a source of contention between his proud dad, and his grandfather (Dan Albright, "Remember the Titans"), a puritan businessman, so the lad enters law school and maintains his amateur status throughout his career. This frustrates his frequent rival, the flamboyant and hedonistic pro Walter Hagen (Jeremy Northam, "The Statement"), whose conviction that he will always win because he has to is proven wrong by Jones's sheer love of the game.
Caviezel gives a dour performance as Jones, brightening only when pitted against players he admires or when wooing Mary (Claire Forlani, "The Medallion"), the woman who will become his long-suffering wife. Although Jones was a man of temper (possibly provoked by his physical obstacles), he was a moral compass, losing the U.S. Open by one stroke, for which he penalized himself. Caviezel continues picking roles with saintly qualifications. It is much to Forlani's credit that she remains a beacon from her introduction, a sweet and concerned partner who never succumbs to the 'little woman' stereotype of sports hero films. Northam has a field day as the colorful Hagen (as did the physically different Bruce McGill as the same character in "The Legend of Bagger Vance"). His entry into the film is one of its most colorful scenes, with Hagen arriving at a charity event sleeping off a drunken binge in the back of his chauffeur driven car. Also excellent is Rice as the boisterous senior Jones, as hale as his son is unhealthy yet nonetheless living vicariously through his progeny. The usually reliable McDowell turns in a cutesy caricature (he does get to deliver one very prophetic line about the future of sports). He's offset by Begg and Paul Freedman, as Angus, Bobby's St. Andrews' caddy, who portray the Scots with more down to earth humor.
Besides his uneven pacing, Herrington has a problem establishing some characters, who disappear before we're quite aware of their importance. Harry Vardon is evidently a golfer Jones revered, but Aidan Quinn plays the man in little more than a mysterious cameo. Bobby's friendship with U.S. Women's Amateur champion Alexa Stirling is also sketchily handled given the director's focus on Jones's early years. Frequently, the tournaments are edited as a wildly veering series of horrible mistakes followed by brilliant swings. Given the Atlanta setting, Coca Cola product placement in a 1920's period piece is more amusing than annoying. James Horner ("House of Sand and Fog") nicely incorporates golf's Scottish beginnings into a pleasing score.
C+
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