The Greatest Game Ever Played (2005)

From the studio that brought you "The Rookie" and "Miracle" and director Bill Paxton, comes a story of courage, passion and of the greatest American sports hero you have probably never heard of... An amateur player from a working class family, Francis Ouimet - played by Shia LaBeouf ("Holes") - shocked the golf world when at the 1913 U.S. Open, flanked by his 10-year-old caddie, he defeated his idol, the defending British champion Harry Vardon - played by Stephen Dillane. An unlikely match-up - "the ingenue versus the seasoned champ" - theirs was the greatest match the sport had ever known. Caught between a world of hardship and a beckoning life of privilege, Francis needed to prove his unfailing will and ability to make it to the tournament. Elias Koteas ("Traffic," "Ararat") plays Francis' tough, hardworking father. Newcomer Peyton List is Sarah Wallis, the beautiful young woman, who catches Francis' heart. Joshua Flitter is Eddie Lowery, the pint sized caddie who helps Francis find his way through the troublesome fairways to victory.

Based on the real-life historical figures of Francis Ouimet (Shia LaBeouf) and Harry Vardon (Stephen Dillane), this film is about the greatest golf game ever played -- the 1913 U.S. Open.  As Ouimet, a working class young man raised in the shadow of the Brookline Golf Club longs to play, but is kept down by social discrimination, he caddies at the Brookline Club and soaks in all he can about his golfing idol, the Britton Harry Vardon.  However, as luck would have it, Ouimet is given the opportunity to qualify for the U.S. Open where he gets to play against Vardon, and against some of the greatest amateur and professional golfers in the world.

 

This puts two genuinely talented golfers from different sides of the Atlantic Ocean, both coming from meager backgrounds, and finding themselves competing for the 1913 U.S. Open Golf Championship.  Veteran British star, Harry Vardon (Stephen Dillane) and American amateur twenty-year old Francis Ouimet (Shia LeBoeuf) are working-class men with the class and behavior of gentlemen, embroiled in a tension-filled playoff round with another British veteran, Ted Ray (Stephen Marcus), for a championship the British want back from from the Americans.
 

'The Greatest Game Ever Played' is a drama about human struggle in the class systems of the early 1900's.

Harry Vardon (Stephen Dillane) is the winner of numerous British Opens, has been nicknamed "The Stylist," has a line of golf balls named after him, and is the best player in Britain, but is still considered part of the lower-class because of his heritage.  When Harry was young, his home was torn down to make room for a new golf course. This event is burned into his memory, and it is something he has to deal with throughout his life and is seen in many flashbacks throughout the  movie.
 

Francis Ouimet (Shia LaBeouf) is a young American peasant, and growing up next to a golf course, Francis becomes fascinated with the game.  Harry Vardon  becomes his idol and meets him one day as a young boy, while Harry is performing a golfing demonstration in the city.  He stays up late at night practicing his putting on the wooden floor in his bedroom, but because golf is considered a game only for the upper class, Francis is relegated to being a caddie for society's elite.  When a local high-class gentleman and the wise old man who keeps up the neighborhood course take a liking to Francis, they find he has what it takes to play with the big guys.  After Francis wins a regional amateur championship, he is invited to play in the US Open.
 

The bad guy of the film, Lord Northcliffe, is a pompous English aristocrat who wants nothing else than to win the US Open and bring the championship back to Britain. Not because he loves golf, but because it will bolster his pride and his standing with the king.  He recruits Harry Vardon to go over to America and win the Open, and dangles membership in a prestigious high society gentleman's club as a carrot.  Being poor, Vardon wants to belong, so he takes Northcliffe up on the offer.
 

What separates this film from other sports films is that both competitors are treated with equal respect and admiration.  But when Francis and Harry go head-to-head, it is a battle between two fierce, dignified competitors who respect and admire each other.
 

Bill Paxton directs the movie with an eye for detail, and an unwavering courage to use extremely effective visual effects.  We travel along with the ball as it soars through the air.  When Harry is up at the tee, he imagines the crowds of people, the trees, and all the distractions disappearing until all that is left is a bright green fairway straight in front of him.  Francis uses a tactic where he envisions the hole is only a few feet away, and the camera zooms in on the green like it is pulling it closer and closer to the screen.
 

'The Greatest Game Ever Played' can be enjoyed on the sports film, rooting-for-the-underdog level, or viewed as a stark portrait of how difficult it was for ordinary people when class systems were so accepted and prevalent.  However, taking this movie to blue-ray format, makes this something unreal in movie magic. The special effects become so real that sometimes you find yourself staring at background and at ladybugs on a golf ball.  The last scene will be the most mind blowing because the clarity of the sunset as Eddy and Francis walk across the green while the sun is setting, is where Disney has once again set themselves apart in the Blu-ray market.
 

All of the featurettes are in 480p.

"A View from the Gallery: On the Set of The Greatest Game Ever Played" is a 15 ¼-minute featurette with the director and the writer-producer giving their reasons for being involved with the project and extending lavish praise to their actors, the cinematographer, composer, production designer, costumer, and special effects coordinator, many of whom also weigh in with comments.

"Two Legends and The Greatest Game" offers more extensive biographies about Francis Ouimet and Harry Vardon concentrating especially on their lives after the events in the film. The featurette runs 6 ¾ minutes.

"From Caddie to Champion: Francis Ouimet" is a 24 ¼-minute PBS program filmed in 1963 with the real Francis Ouimet being interviewed about his golfing career and taking us on a tour of the course where he won his championship relating significant moments in his game that made the difference in his winning the title.

The disc offers 1080p trailers for Race to Witch Mountain, Hannah Montana: The Movie, Earth, G-Force, and Morning Light.