The Greatest Game Ever Played (2005)

Did you people see the same film I saw?

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

The acting in this movie is really good.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

After watching this movie a dozen times, I asked myself, "Why am I so attached to this film even though I'm not the biggest golf fan?". The answer is simply great cinema with great characters. The characters in this 1913 story carry the plot. No golf swing is the same because the audience sees it from a different character's perspective which keeps the story moving. The director, Bill Paxton, knows what he is doing with the camera, story, and characters. The editing and pacing are so good that you don't even notice it towards the end. The clothing designs and dialogue are authentic. The movie is so much more than an "inspirational sports movie", though it is inspirational. Themes of social class and family ties convey a greater significance that leads to a rewarding payoff! People often tell me that they passed on this movie because of the melodramatic title or the fact that they could not get past the half hour mark. The first act builds on the character structure for the next acts. I can assure you that if you stick with the story, you will not be disappointed!

Barely adequate sports saga set in 1913 America, with a plucky French Canadian immigrant Kid (Shia LeBouef) up against Stephen Dillane as polished English champion Harry Vardon. (A true English gentleman who is haunted by ghosts in top hats telling him he's not well born enough to be a golf champ. Yes, it's as dumb as it sounds.) There's a number of elements to this movie, and none of them work together all that well. The period clothes and settings don't really establish a mood, because all the actors talk and act in a breezy, modern, 21st century style. The dirt poor hero has a rich girl who falls for him at first sight, and Peyton List plays this Victorian beauty with a million dollar smile, tons of sex appeal, and all the modesty and decorum of a Sports Illustrated swimsuit model prancing across a beach in her bikini. (Not that I'm complaining!)Veteran character actor Elias Koteas plays Ouimet senior, the bitter, hard bitten French Canadian dad who insists his son will never amount to anything. The writing here is so overdone it's like something out of WALK HARD: THE DEWEY COX STORY. ("Ze wrong kid died! Ze wrong kid died!") The irony is that the bitter father is the most believable, period authentic character in the story, and the actor playing him practically steals the movie. You keep feeling like the story is going to turn into FENCES, but of course Disney can't have an American tragedy breaking out in the middle of a feel good sports story. So the unhappy father comes around in the last reel -- and if you think that's a spoiler, you haven't seen many sports movies. Oh, and the comic relief is a fat, annoying, bratty kid who sounds about as 1913 as Eric Cartman. "Screw you guys, I'm going home!"

This is a feel good triumph against the odds uplifting true story about a amateur golfer from a poor background who won the US Open golf championship in 1913. The snobbery and class barriers he had to overcome seem a little exaggerated for effect. Shia La Beouf as Francis Ouimet is endearing and his 10 year old caddy is a scene stealer. The David vs Goliath tournament is quite exciting as he takes on the British Champion Henry Vardon played sympathetically by Stephen Dillaine. It's interesting to see that Vardon himself faced class discrimination in the sport.The actor Bill Paxton is a good director. The photography is interesting with a mix of shots and visual effects to make the movie exciting even for non golf players.

Directed by Bill Paxton, "The Greatest Game Ever Played" stars Shia LaBeouf as Francis Ouimet, the first amateur golfer to win the US Open."Game" was produced by Walt Disney studios, and so is wholly generic. We get the usual inspirational messages ("dont give up on your dreams", "be all you can be" etc), much forced sentimentality and the various well-worn clichés typical of underdog movies.Still, it's not all bad. "Game" was directed by the lovable Bill Paxton ("Game over, man!"), who does well to delve into the class divides of early 20th century America. As he's an actor himself, Paxton also coaxes good performances from his cast, particularly LaBeouf and Elias Koteas. Their characters are broadly sketched, larger-than-life and almost mythological. Also impressive is the film's set design, with full scale turn-of-the-century towns, and some fine interior wood-work. Considering Paxton's never directed a big budget feature before, his direction in "Game" is impressive, particularly his handling of architecture and wide spaces.7.9/10 – Worth one viewing.