Flak Magazine: Review of The Legend of Bagger Vance, 11-14-00

Recent golf films, despite the holistic nature of the sport, have been narrowly focused. Happy Gilmore was the story of Happy Gilmore. Tin Cup, with its cutesy ending and all, was about Roy “Tin Cup” McAvoy. But make no mistake about this one: The Legend of Bagger Vance is the story of golfer Rannulph Junuh. If this movie isn’t good, it’s at least intentionally confusing, which may be what studios strive for when they’re trying to get outside the cookie cutter.

Junuh (Matt Damon), having lost his swing during a horrifying World War I tour, is wooed into a celebrity showdown by former love Adele Invergordon (Charlize Theron, as solid as she’s ever been). He stands as the Savannah representative against world-class golfers Bobby Jones and Walter Hagen in a made-for-course-revenue match. Just like Tiger vs. Sergio, there is no professional weight to the match; mostly, it’s just to keep Adele’s dead father’s dream course open during the Depression. This inert premise is a problem; how can such a Costner-esque, For the Love of the Game premise be enjoyable if there are no ramifications?

Enter Bagger Vance (Will Smith), a vagabond caddy in the right place at the right time. Through Bagger’s oversensualized golf lessons, Damon starts to overcome his ills, his fears and all those other things that make match play more exciting. The duo, never with chemistry but never without some unspoken connection, is accompanied by young Hardy Greaves (J. Michael Moncrief, with Jack Lemmon narrating as the Private Ryan-esque elder version), who brings along the standard boat of naivete and youthful passion for the game and is doomed to be a golfer when he grows up.

If this is The Legend of Bagger Vance, shouldn’t he be seen more? In fact, the movie’s really The Rise of Rannulph Junuh. Damon gives a solid performance as the likable frontman who ditches the putter for the bottle and back again; the trained eye might even see flickers of a young Redford in him. It’s about Junuh, not Vance, even after fast-forwarding past Junuh’s fall and focusing on his resurrection. Junuh is the lead, Invergordon is the love interest, Vance is the sidekick, and Greaves is the next generation. It’s as conventional a set-up as any.

That is, until the end. Bagger is only notable for two things: a campy and mildly inspiring performance by Smith, and a lack of lines, especially when considered against his apparent importance in the story. But Robert Redford must have had this urge in him, where in some top-brass meeting he slams his fists on the table and exclaims, “That’s where the gold is! It’s all about Bagger!” much in the same way that probably gave birth to the sudden ending of his 1998 The Horse Whisperer. Redford is that guy who grabs you by the arm and utters “There’s something to thinkabout, eh!” with an elbow to the ribs.

For much of the movie, it’s obvious Bagger Vance is in the story to make Junuh a better golfer than he ever was. But then comes the coded ending, and you realize that Bagger is a symbol, an allegory, a pillar of life, death and whatever else. Does it work, though? It doesn’t help that the frame of reference for this movie is schlocked around a couple of times. There isn’t enough firmness in the narrative to make patrons race back and watch for Sixth Sense-type cues. As viewers, we have a love for surprise, but also an appreciation for providence. Leaving The Legend of Bagger Vance, both will be replaced by confusion. Not “What’s in the briefcase?”-type confusion. It’s the kind of confusion that makes you wonder what you just paid $7.50 to see.

— Andy Stilp (andy.stilp at gmail dot com)