The Greatest Game Ever Played

I accidentally came upon this film this morning. Although I did know of it's existence, I was never eager to put it in my schedule, but as lax as Sunday morning programming is, I figured, Why not? This is the typical underdog sports biopic and I am not spoiling anything by telling you it will end exactly as you would expect. It is no Rocky. This story is about amateur golfer Francis Ouimet (LaBeouf). 1913 was an era when golf was not a hobby to anyone who had clubs. No, it was the sport of wealthy and entitled people who played to show everyone around them how important they were. Francis was from a working class family, so he had no reason to be on a golf course. Although he was a natural. He was awesome, and he was gonna win no matter what, right up until he quit per his Father's overly strong suggestion. After being out of the game for a while, he is recruited to play in his hometown's tournament. His hometown was in rural Massachusetts and the tournament in question was called the US Open. At first he passed, but later recanted and won the entry final for the final spot. At only 21 years old, he was more of a hometown novelty for tournament writers to exploit. Never given a real chance at victory, he wowed everyone with his early round play, and before long he was the talk of the Open. The Americans had lost the Open to the British a previous number of years and one cocky American vowed this will not happen again. He had no idea at the time that it would not be him to upset the Brits, but the young unpaid Ouimet was the best chance for victory. The real injustice was the fact of his "Amateur" status, even if he won or placed high, there would be no prize money. This did not affect him or his play and the golf action was done very well for this film. I enjoyed it immensely. The comic relief comes from Ouimet's 10 year old, short round caddy who continuously skips school to be at his side. This is a feel good movie about the odds and the real reason we play the game.

NBM rates - The Greatest Game Ever Played - Phenomenal