Product Description

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.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2970 in DVD
• Brand: Team Marketing
• Released on: 2001-04-03
• Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .0" h x .0" w x .0" l, 1.00 pounds
• Running time: 126 minutes

Features

• Officially Licensed
• Highest Quality Recording

Amazon.com
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

From The New Yorker
Robert Redford, directing in pastoral-elegy mode: the light is golden, the colors are blended, and drama is nowhere to be found. He's made a tall tale about golf in the early thirties, with Matt Damon as a Savannah athlete demoralized by the First World War and Will Smith as an angelic black caddie who emerges from the gloaming and restores Damon by whispering incomprehensible remarks in his ear about feeling his way to an "authentic stroke." With Charlize Theron around, Damon shouldn't have any trouble restoring himself through love, but the movie is too dreamy and silly for sex. Again and again, the camera takes the point of view of a golf ball on simulated flights through the air. The ball lands with a thunk-and so does the movie. -David Denby
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker

Customer Reviews

The hasbeen that never really was.
I was touched By this film. The meaning of this movie to me
was . God gives all of us a mullagan every day we live.
To keep trying ,not giving up and that anything is
possable. Maybe if i keep trying i can find My swing.

Beautiful, Moving Motion Picture
The Legend of Bagger Vance is much more than a movie about a golf caddie. It's a tale of redemption and the indomitable nature of the human spirit. It's about how the rhythm of golf is the rhythm of life, and so much more.

Matt Damon plays Rannulph Junuh, the pride of Savannah and one of the area's best golfers, who returns from World War I shattered and disillusioned from the horrors of war. He reluctantly competes in a local exhibition golf match against golf legends Bobby Jones (Joel Gretsch) and Walter Hagen (Bruce McGill) to give it some local flavor. Junuh is estranged from his socialite girlfriend (Charlize Theron), who is sponsoring the tournament to save her late father's golf resort, and idolized by young Hardy (newcomer J. Michael Moncrief, played as an older man by Jack Lemmon) but still not sure of his ability until the mysterious caddie Bagger Vance (Will Smith) comes in and teaches him about golf, life, and redemption.

Director Robert Redford manages to extract superb performances from his cast, and despite the fact that Will Smith was billed as the star this picture clearly belongs to Matt Damon, who turns in his best acting performance since Good Will Hunting.

The cinematography in this film is spectacular, and Rachel Portman's score is one of the most moving and beautiful I'd heard in a long time. There's a lot to like about this movie...and it has become one of my all time favorites.

Quite a Legend in the Making
"Bagger" is quite the Legend in the making in my opinion.

It is rare for a movie to come along that is both Inspirational on a deep level, and at the same time Extremely funny.

Will Smith gives an oscar worthy performance in one of the best movies of 2000 in my opinion. Matt Damon is equally great, making the transition from shell shocked war veteran to alcoholic, to comeback kid on the green.

This is a great movie, don't miss it!