The Greatest Game Ever Played Review
by Steve Rhodes (Steve DOT Rhodes AT InternetReviews DOT com)September 28th, 2005
THE GREATEST GAME EVER PLAYED
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 2005 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****): *** 1/2
THE GREATEST GAME EVER PLAYED is an old-fashioned, heartfelt film, exquisitely constructed by director Bill Paxton (FRAILTY). Ostensibly about a famous golf game, this heart-warming, true story is about so much more as well, from the rigidity of the class structure in the early twentieth century to the importance of following your dreams. In the wrong hands, the film could have been mawkish and trite, but Paxton gives it a powerful and simple honesty that, with just a few exceptions, never becomes preachy.
Cast almost exclusively with complete unknowns, the movie proves how superb a film can be without a single star in its heavens. The acting is all excellent, but it is a director's movie, with Paxton deserving most of the credit for its stunning success.
The story follows two golfers who rise from working class backgrounds to go on to glory. Stephen Dillane (THE HOURS), the best known actor in the movie, plays Harry Vardon, a British golfing legend who wrote books, including "The Stylist," about how to play the game. Although he has won more British Open Championships that anyone ever, the British society types who run the clubs will not admit him because he doesn't come from any of the right families.
When Harry is at the top of his game -- or perhaps just past it -- he ends up facing an American kid named Francis Ouimet in the 1913 U.S. Open. Shia LaBeouf plays Francis with a palpable dedication. Well, Francis starts off dedicated until he gives up entirely in his teens. This is no surprise since his father (Elias Koteas) has an unabiding faith in the rigidity of the class structure. Always despondent and sullen, he wants his son to quit and stop wasting his time since they'll never let his boy be accepted as part of a gentleman's game. The father does everything he can to stand in his son's way.
When, at the age of twenty, Francis does decide to try again, it is at nothing less than the aforementioned U.S. Open. The result is a long tournament that will have you riveted to your seat even if you care nothing about golf. Adding to the pleasure is a pipsqueak named Eddie Lowery (Josh Flitter), who accidentally becomes Francis's caddy for the entire match. Eddie faces a daily challenge, since he has to outwit the truant officer. Just a fifth grader, Eddie is extra short and pudgy but full of useful and sometimes humorous advice. Adding to the film's enjoyment are special effects that give us some balls-eye view of the course.
The ending game is accurately termed "one David against two Goliaths," since it isn't just Harry that Francis is up against. The movie includes a love story too, as if all of the other parts weren't already more than enough.
Whatever you do, don't leave until you find out in the ending credits what happened to the participants, especially Eddie.
THE GREATEST GAME EVER PLAYED runs 1:55 but feels shorter. It is rated PG for "some brief mild language" and would be acceptable for all ages.
The film opens nationwide in the United States on Friday, September 30, 2005. In the Silicon Valley, it will be showing at the AMC theaters, the Century theaters and the Camera Cinemas.
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