The Greatest Game Ever Played (2005)

User Rating:

7.3/10   

Director:

Bill Paxton

Writers (WGA):

Mark Frost (book)
Mark Frost (screenplay)

Release Date:

30 September 2005 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | History | Sport

Plot:

A golf drama based on the true story of the 1913 US Open, where 20-year-old Francis Ouimet defeated his idol, 1900 US Open champion, Englishman, Harry Vardon.

Plot Keywords:

Champion | Golfer | Golf | Barroom Brawl | Father Son Relationship

Awards:

3 nominations

Cast

James Paxton	...	Young Harry Vardon
Tom Rack	...	Black Top Hatted Man
Armand Laroche	...	Black Top Hatted Man
Peter Hurley	...	Black Top Hatted Man
Gregory Terlecki	...	Black Top Hatted Man
Jonathan Higgins	...	Embry Wallis
Matthew Knight	...	Young Francis Ouimet
Luke Askew	...	Alec Campbell
Amanda Tilson	...	Young Sarah Wallis
Elias Koteas	...	Arthur Ouimet
Jamie Merling	...	Young Louise Ouimet
Eugenio Esposito	...	Young Raymond Ouimet
Marnie McPhail	...	Mary Ouimet
Stephen Dillane	...	Harry Vardon
Robin Wilcock	...	Bernard Darwin

MPAA:

Rated PG for some brief mild language.

Runtime:

120 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Australia:G | Singapore:PG | UK:PG | Argentina:Atp | USA:PG (certificate #41843) | Germany:o.Al. | Denmark:7 | Netherlands:AL | Canada:G (all jurisdictions)

Filming Locations:

Kahnawake, Québec, Canada

Company:

Fairway Films

Trivia:

The real Francis Ouimet and Eddie Lowery remained life long friends. When Ouimet died in 1967, Lowery was one of the pall-bearers.

Goofs:

Factual errors: The seventeenth hole of The Country Club is shown as a dogleg right, and Harry hits his ball into an unseen trap on the right side of the corner of the dogleg. In reality, the seventeenth hole at The Country Club at the time of the 1913 US Open was a dogleg left, and Vardon hit his ball into a trap on the left side of the fairway.

Quotes:

Harry Vardon: [to Lord Northcliff] Let me tell you something. I came here to win a trophy. And on the face of it Ted Ray or I should carry it off. Not for you, not for England, but for sheer bloody pride at being the best, *that's* why we do this. And if Mr. Ouimet wins tomorrow, it's because he's the best, because of who he is. Not who his father was, not how much money he's got, because of who he bloody is! And I'll thank you to remember that. And I'll thank you to show the respect a gentleman gives as a matter of course.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: (2005-09-23)" (2005)

Soundtrack:

You Made Me Love You (I Didn't Want to Do It)

Great Disney Sports Movie

As a recreational golfer with some knowledge of the sport's history, I was pleased with Disney's sensitivity to the issues of class in golf in the early twentieth century. The movie depicted well the psychological battles that Harry Vardon fought within himself, from his childhood trauma of being evicted to his own inability to break that glass ceiling that prevents him from being accepted as an equal in English golf society. Likewise, the young Ouimet goes through his own class struggles, being a mere caddie in the eyes of the upper crust Americans who scoff at his attempts to rise above his standing.

What I loved best, however, is how this theme of class is manifested in the characters of Ouimet's parents. His father is a working-class drone who sees the value of hard work but is intimidated by the upper class; his mother, however, recognizes her son's talent and desire and encourages him to pursue his dream of competing against those who think he is inferior.

Finally, the golf scenes are well photographed. Although the course used in the movie was not the actual site of the historical tournament, the little liberties taken by Disney do not detract from the beauty of the film. There's one little Disney moment at the pool table; otherwise, the viewer does not really think Disney. The ending, as in "Miracle," is not some Disney creation, but one that only human history could have written.