Review of The Legend of Bagger Vance (2000) by Monica S — 09 Jun 2014

Prepared to face a slow film, I went into The Legend of Bagger Vance because it was directed by Robert Redford and gave a dramatic performance to Will Smith.

Golf is arguably not one of the most interesting sports to watch on television as it is all about patience and precision which essentially means a lot of waiting around. And that carries over into The Legend of Bagger Vance because like the sport of golf, there is little that actually happens and the pace moves so slowly in revealing that. Fans of golf will most likely even be disappointed because there is a lot of waiting around for the golf game to actually start.

It's hard to make a film about golf inspiring when it moves at such a glacial pace and doesn't really have a point. I mean, The Legend of Bagger Vance does not channel the spirituality that comes with being a good golf player, nor does it show protagonist Rannulph Junuh dealing with anything as he enters the gold game and transitions back into golf. While the pacing is slow, the development of the story or the characters is null and the dramatic effect of it all is way too subtle for its own good and so it is a dramatically distant film which is not compelling enough to actually connect the characters to the viewers. Frankly, The Legend of Bagger Vance is not the deep film that it wants to be and audiences who are able to tolerate waiting through the entire film will realise that it is not the inspiring film that it wants to be and is lesser in inspirational quality even to the Adam Sandler golf comedy Happy Gilmore.

The first time I saw The Legend of Bagger Vance was one day at high school when my teacher could not be bothered teaching for the day and instead made up a class on the film reminding us how it is more honourable to accept things as they come instead of cheating our way around it, and that was essentially what The Legend of Bagger Vance actually was. It was a lecture on sportsmanship and not an entertaining one, although slightly more entertaining than director Robert Redford's later series of lectures in Lions for Lambs. I got the point pretty early on that sports was about honour, so the message of the film was clear. But the fact that it ended up spending 127 minutes repeatedly pointing that out to me without stopping to entertain me was just annoying. The Legend of Bagger Vance is simply an annoying film, and it is too vain to be deep which means that director Robert Redford has gotten so caught up repeatedly trying to explain the message in the film to turn it into an original or meaningful concept.

The script in The Legend of Bagger Vance has every intention of being sophisticated, but it just feels artificial. The cast of the film are able to deliver the words so naturally that it feels organic enough, but it is clear that it is rehearsed dialogue. It doesn't precisely manage to evade cliches either, resorting to the formulaic script elements of classical films not even to a benefit. The Legend of Bagger Vance reminds us of a time when these concepts were not formulaic or cliche by using them to a tedious extent.

And not only that, but the characters are thinly sketched. Rannulph Junuh is supposed to be a man who ?lost his swing? after an experience in the war, but the fact that such little turmoil or internal drama is actually emphasised makes it seem as if the experience that he had in the war was that he got hit in the side of his head and now he cannot aim straight without the help of a mysterious black man. Whatever happened to him is not depicted in much at all, so the experience of The Legend of Bagger Vance is largely empty.

The visual assets of The Legend of Bagger Vance are good because the costume design manages to reinforce the time setting well while the cinematography captures the landscape of its setting very nicely. The only thing that viewers are able to consistently enjoy while waiting for something to happen are the positive visual aspects of the film, and The Legend of Bagger Vance is full of them.

And admittedly, the cast know what they're doing.

Matta Damon's lead performance in The Legend of Bagger Vance was an easy one for him and he delivered a natural charisma and sophisticated charm for the part. While his role isn't written to be all that deep, Matt Damon performs in the role with unflinching ease and dedication which doesn't really challenge him but reminds us of his dramatic skills as an actor. Matt Damon's performance reveals his skill at creating chemistry with other actors and the way he interacts with both Will Smith and Charlize Theron is terrific.

I never really found that the "magic negro" stereotype bothered me, so the presence of Will Smith as the titular Bagger Vance in The Legend of Bagger Vance. Although I was bothered by the fact that his character's name was in the title and yet Will Smith's actual screen time in the role was way too little, the performance of Will Smith did not fail to impress me. He simply provides as sense of support and wisdom to the story in The Legend of Bagger Vance and made the title character both important to the story and compelling with his natural charm. Will Smith's supporting effort is one of the best aspects of The Legend of Bagger Vance.

Charlize Theron's performance is the standout effort. The language of the film almost seems real thanks to Charlize Theron's performance because she delivers it as if it comes to her with such simple ease. She delivers her lines with the charming passion of a truly classical actress and so it is easy to see how she becomes the product of Matt Damon's characters affections. I found msyself truly compelled by her effort in The Legend of Bagger Vance because her emotions seemed real and it was easy to sympathise with her, so Charlize Theron's performance in The Legend of Bagger Vance made it worth viewing.

Lastly, Jack Lemmon's final performance and narration was a nice touch to The Legend of Bagger Vance.

But despite a talented cast and some firm scenery, The Legend of Bagger Vance ends up being too slow, thinly written and dull to actually inspire or entertain.