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List Price: $9.99 | | Label: Dreamworks Video
Salesrank: 3174
Released: April 3, 2001 |
| Our Price: $4.25 |
| Used Price: $1.99 |
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MPAA Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
A disillusioned war veteran, Capt. Rannulph Junah (Matt Damon), reluctantly agrees to play a game of golf. He finds the game futile until his caddy, Bagger Vance (Will Smith), teaches him the secret of the authentic golf stroke which turns out also to be the secret to mastering any challenge and finding meaning in life.
Description of The Legend of Bagger Vance:
The Legend of Bagger Vance doesn't break any new ground, but with Steven Pressfield's inspirational novel to guide them, director Robert Redford and screenwriter Jeremy Leven have tilled fertile soil with a graceful touch. Redford does for golf what A River Runs Through It did for fly-fishing: the sport is a conduit for a philosophy of living, and Redford achieves the small miracle of making golf a central metaphor that's visually compelling.
Set in Savannah, Georgia, during the early '30s, the story charts the redemption of disillusioned World War I veteran and former golf champion Rannulph Junuh (Matt Damon), who emerges from self-imposed obscurity in an exhibition match against legendary golfers Bobby Jones (Joel Gretsch) and Walter Hagen (Bruce McGill). Having earlier abandoned the socialite (Charlize Theron) who has organized the tournament to promote her late father's spectacular golf resort, Junuh now depends on the support of a young fan (perfectly cast newcomer J. Michael Moncrief) and the mysterious Bagger Vance (Will Smith), a smiling Jiminy Cricket who serves as Junuh's caddy, golf guru, and Socratic angel of mercy.
As Junuh regains the "authentic swing" he feared was lost forever, Redford guides his splendid cast through a spiritual journey that is specific to the discipline of golf and yet potently universal. As always, Redford also conveys his respect for nature and the rhythms of life as well as a sweet nostalgia for simpler times and purer values. With the casting of Jack Lemmon as the film's present-day narrator and elderly version of Moncrief's character, The Legend of Bagger Vance gains even greater dignity and, indeed, the glowing aura of legend. --Jeff Shannon
The Legend of Bagger Vance Reviews:
This movie is really uplifting 
2009-10-08 - Of course, (no pun intended) I am not into golf. But this movie is not really about golf. It is about how playing golf is like the way we "play out" life. Loved it. Some great sound bites to take along with you as you work at this consciousness we call "life".
Getting Tuned
2009-09-04 - This is about picking up the "lost signal" (returning to last known good configuration in certain geekspeak). Fun and professionally done. Recommend
highly for those able to "hear".
Great movie - bad language 
2009-08-15 - This was a great story & Matt Damon, Will Smith, & especially the little boy gave outstanding performances. However, I was disappointed by the unnecessary use of foul language.
I LOVED IT!
2009-07-04 - I don't play golf, wish I did, but I loved the film. It's more a spiritual film than a film about golf, as it could have been about baseball or some other sport, but golf fit the bill. As much as I love Matt Damon, I adored Will Smith as his caddy/spiritual teacher. Great film, a joyful film. Whether you play golf or not, you shouldn't miss it. Jack Lemmon did the narration and did the bit part at the end.
I read this somewhere, and it's interesting. Leave it to Robert Redford to use it:
"Bagger Vance" and "R. Junuh" are representations of Bhagavan (Krishna) and Arjuna, from the Hindu text "The Bhagavad Gita". The lessons learned by Rannulph are loosely based on those Krishna teaches to Arjuna while masquerading as his lowly chariot driver."
The game of life
2009-07-04 - Wiston Churchill said "Golf is a more expensive way of playing marbles". I agree.
Yet I loved the movie.
This is not a movie about golf. Golf is merely a backdrop and used as an inflection point to talk about leading your life. Bagger Vance (Will Smith) counsels a confused, lost Randolph Junnah (Matt Damon) on discovering himself, pulling himself back, and leading a full life.
This movie is beautifully adapted from a book of the same name. And the book in turn is an interpretation of the Bhagvad Gita, which is an 18-part poem within the Hindu epic - Mahabharata. In the Gita, the confused warrior Arjuna (R. Junnah!!) is advised by his charioteer Krishna on the meaning of life.
What shines through the movie are a couple of things -
-- The director's love for the game. You can feel the sheer delight in golf seeping thru and infecting you as you watch the movie
-- The performance of every single actor/actress in this movie are a cut above anything else they have done. Will Smith has perhaps given his best performance ever.
This is a movie you can watch over and over again.
