Just watched this movie today. Decent enjoyable movie. Pretty much like most Disney sports movie where the entire plot is already known 5 minutes into the movie. I even knew the ending before they announced what the ending could’ve been. Though I do have to say, the trailer made Harry Vardon like a bad guy, but he totally wasn’t.
Official Site
IMDb: 6.5/10 (681 votes)
Yahoo! Movies: The Critics: B- / Yahoo! Users: B
Rotten Tomatoes: RATING: FRESH / READING: 61%
Apple Trailer
Amazon.com DVD
Amazon.com Book
Spoilers: (Show)
So the movie starts off with a poor kid seeing seeing some gentlemen deciding to buy a golf course through where his current house is. Apparently this was Harry Vardon, who grew up to become probably the best golfer this world has seen, still holding the record for most (6) British Open Championships. Francis Ouimet was born in a poor family and worked as a caddie to bring home some income. Because of this, he fell in love with the game.
Slowly as he grew older, he got better, and the golf course watcher took notice of him. He nominated Francis to enter an amateurs tournament, but the registration fee was $50. He begged his father to loan him the money, but the father agreed on only 1 condition. If he loses, he’d have to give up the dream of playing golf. Francis agreed.
And as expected, he lost and instead of caddying, he went into as a busyboy for a retail shop selling golf clubs and equipment.
Oh yah, there was a girl involved, but nothing really happens. She might as well not be in the entire story, and there wouldn’t be a difference.
So one day, the club wants Harry Vardon to come to the US Open and win the trophy back for the Britons. Harry apparently had won that trophy many many years ago. The story continues and Francis was once again asked to play, but this time in the US Open as an amateur. At first he declined, but after he found out Harry was playing (Harry has been his idol ever since he was a kid), he decided he wanted to play. His dad found out days later and of course he was unhappy and even threaten to throw Francis out of his house. The mom on the other hand had been quite supportive.
The round started and Francis has his ups and down, even tying 2nd at one point, but falling back down to 17th and 18th because he cracked under pressure. But he got better. He also had this 10yr old caddie that was super awesome and funny.
And you might as well guess the ending on your own, since it’s just that obvious. One thing I didn’t get was why did Harry keep seeing those men in black. Another thing I suspected to happen was that his father would come out and support him before his last shot, but he didn’t. The father did appear later, but the emotion just wasn’t as strong.
