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| Two men golf in the dead of night on this mystery-invoking poster for Robert Redford's The Legend of Bagger Vance |
When a golf player keels over from a heart attack on the green as an old man, he recalls past memories pertaining to the incredible caddy/golf player Bagger Vance and a tournament in Savannah, Georgia.
The Legend of Bagger Vance is written by Jeremy Leven (Don Juan DeMarco (1994)), based on the same-titled 1995 novel by Steven Pressfield (Last of the Amazons (2002)), and directed by Californian master filmmaker Robert Redford (Ordinary People (1980)).
With the handsome production values, - which is to be expected from a film of the enormous budget lavished on this sports drama, - and elegant photography (by cinematographer Michael Ballhaus (Der Gehilfe (1978, TV movie))), the film lures us onto its pathway. But only for a while, because The Legend of Bagger Vance has the distinct odor of being Oscar bait all around it, coupled with its distinct lack of recognizable reality.
Matt Damon (The Zero Theorem (2013))'s protagonist is a worn-down alcoholic, but that largely remains a postulate; Will Smith's (Men in Black (1997)) mystical Bagger Vance character, (presumably conjured up with inspiration from the Hindu Bhagavad Gita legend, which has a guiding, godly Bhagavan character), is a kind of golf oracle, who supplies wisdom that I simply couldn't receive with a straight face. It seems beyond anachronistic that Vance in the shape of Smith who with his recognizable self-confident swagger waltzes happily and black through the whole film, which is set in the American South around 1930/1931, without encountering a single racist moment whatsoever. Neither he nor Charlize Theron's (The Road (2009)) love interest character for Damon become really human-like at any point in the film.
The Legend of Bagger Vance must be intended as a kind of parable, but it is set in such an elaborately recreated concrete context which it then goes on to fully ignore. It is historically unsatisfying, feels phony - and then it is frankly also enormously dull.
Related posts:
Robert Redford: Pete's Dragon (2016) - Lowery plays Disney remake safe (co-star)
All Is Lost (2013) - Chandor's Redford-lost-at-sea is compelling filmmaking (star)
Lions for Lambs (2007) - Streep and Cruise's star powers save Redford's boring political drama (co-producer/director/co-star)
A Bridge Too Far (1977) or, Epic Shit Hits the Fan (co-actor)
The Sting (1973) or, Partners in Hoax (co-star)
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) or, Friendly Outlaws (co-star)
Watch a trailer for the film here
Cost: 80 mil. $
Box office: 39.4 mil. $
= Mega-flop (returned 0.49 times its cost)
[The Legend of Bagger Vance premiered 29 October (USA) and runs 126 minutes. Redford and Morgan Freeman were initially meant to play the bearing roles, before it was decided to go with a pair of younger stars. Smith was paid 10 mil. $ for his performance; Damon 7 mil. $, while Theron and Redford's salaries are unknown. Shooting took place in Georgia and South Carolina from September - December 1999. The film opened #3, behind fellow new release Charlie's Angels and holdover hit Meet the Parents to an 11.5 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it left the top 5 in its 2nd weekend and grossed 30.9 mil. $ (78.4 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Germany with 1.2 mil. $ (3 %) and Australia with 304k $ (0.8 %). Many foreign markets are regrettably missing from the film's Box Office Mojo gross sheet. Roger Ebert gave the film a 3.5/4 star review, translating to 3 notches higher than this one. Critics have describes and criticized Smith's Bagger Vance character in the film as an instance of the 'Magical Negro' stereotype. Redford returned with Lions for Lambs (2007). Damon returned in Finding Forrester (2000)); Smith in Ali (2001); and Theron in Sweet November (2001). The Legend of Bagger Vance is rotten at 43 % with a 5.23/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
What do you think of The Legend of Bagger Vance?
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