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- "The Legend of Bagger Vance"
(Reviewed October 31, 2000)
- In this achingly overstretched metaphor that thinks it's a movie, spiritually adrift golfer Matt Damon is guided to his duffer destiny by all-wise caddie Will Smith. Unfortunately,
Smith's Zen Buckwheat character might have been a better fit over in Spike Lee's "Bamboozled" minstrel show. So would the stereotypical blacks that Damon consorts with when he hits bottom and turns
to the evils of cards and demon liquor in a shack behind his plantation-style mansion. Aside from a few shanty-town extras, those are the only people of color to be found in the movie.
Now, I'm no bleeding-heart liberal, but there's something a little strange going on here. Tiger Woods gave blacks an emotional investment in this sport that "Bagger Vance" almost seems to go out
of its way to snatch back on behalf of the white (and in this case Southern) aristocracy. The movie tries to have it both ways, however, by never letting a single character utter the word "nigger," even
though the era and setting (and certain events) almost require it. Very odd.
There is exactly one convincing character in this entire film. Is it Jack Lemmon, who bookends the film in his usual twinkly old codger role, and whose sickeningly sweet narration seeks to elevate the game
of golf to metaphysical importance? Nope. Is it the lovely Charlize Theron, who shows no acting ability whatsoever in her embarrassingly unconvincing role as Damon's Depression-era squeeze? Nope. Is it
Matt Damon, who was so perfect last year as "The Talented Mr. Ripley," but who pouts his way through this waste of time like a guy who would rather be just about anywhere else? Nope. Is it Will Smith,
who shucks, jives and mugs as if he thinks he is in "The Fresh Prince of the Bel-Air Golf Course?" Good god, no.
The only cast member who was entirely believable was Joel Gretsch, who plays golfer Bobby Jones. He looks like the Arrow Shirt man, he actually appears to know how to play golf, and there always
seems to be something more going on in his head than wondering when director Robert Redford will say "cut." He gets exactly one "spotlight" scene, talking to Damon in the locker room, but it's a low-key
hole-in-one.
Everything else about this film is as boring as watching, well, a PGA match. And where movies such as "The Natural" and "Field of Dreams" did a good job of using baseball as an allegory for
the American condition, golf just doesn't have the same cultural relevance to most people's lives. (And I say this as someone who couldn't give a fig about either sport, so it's not as if I am biased.) "The
Legend of Bagger Vance" might tug the heartstrings of some upper-crust fatcats who like to imagine that they are communing with God whenever they wake up early to get in 18 holes. But for the rest of
us, it's hard to relate to the trials and tribulations of a guy who has given up on life because he "lost his swing."
Back Row Grade: F
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