The Greatest Game Ever Played (2005)

De jonge Francis Ouimet ziet zijn dromen uiteenspatten wanneer hij door een belofte aan zijn vader geen golf meer mag spelen. Als de organisatie van de U.S. Open in 1913 een lokale amateur zoekt om het deelnemersveld met onder andere de Engelse professionals Harry Vardon en Ted Ray te verbreden, grijpt Ouimet echter toch zijn kans. Zijn dromen komen uit, maar de relatie met zijn vader staat hevig op het spel.

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The second film directed by actor Bill Paxton is a marked departure--in both form and content--from his debut, 2001's FRAILTY, a shadowy, gothic tale of murder. THE GREATEST GAME EVER PLAYED is a sports movie slash Horatio Alger rags-to-riches tale with undertones of class consciousness and social critique. The story is based on a real-life event--the 1913 U.S. Open golf championship--at which two equally sympathetic young men, both of whom grew up economically and socially disadvantaged, go club to club in one of the most exciting and dramatic athletic events of the early 20th century.

The film focus...
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es on the competition between the British star Harry Vardon (Stephen Dillane) and the young American prodigy Francis Ouimet (HOLES star Shia LaBoeuf). Though they hail from opposite sides of the Atlantic, the struggles that the two young golfers have had to overcome are markedly similar; both grew up in hard-scrabble, working-class homes that happened to be adjacent to golf courses, and both were preternaturally disposed to the game. In addition, both must defy the disdain of the golfing gentry. Vardon is already a reigning champion and international darling when Ouimet makes it to his first tournament to battle him. Though enough backstory is provided to connect the viewers to the characters, the meat of the film is the dramatic unfolding of the tournament. With expert editing and fluid camera work, Paxton films close-up views of the golfing action in a manner that recalls the kinetic pool shots in Martin Scorsese's THE COLOR OF MONEY. With each stroke, the competition becomes closer and the mood more tense, culminating in an explosive outcome that, while not unexpected, pulls at the heartstrings as do all good tales of triumph over adversity.
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The true story of an upset victory that helped change the sport of golf forever provides the basis for this period drama. Francis Ouimet (played by Shia LaBeouf) was born in 1893 to a working-class family in Massachusetts, and grew up fascinated by golf. However, at that time golf was considered a pastime of the wealthy and privileged, and British and Scottish players dominated the professional game. Ouimet's familial home was near the Brookline, MA, Country Club, and over the stern objections of his father, Francis got a job there as a caddy. Honing his skill in his spare time, Francis displayed a tremendous nat...
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ural talent for the game and an understanding of its strategies, and 1913 he became the first amateur to play in the U.S. Open, held at the Brookline Country Club. Ouimet's presence was considered little more than a novelty at the time; Harry Vardon (Stephen Dillane), a British champion with six tournament victories under his belt, was considered a shoo-in to win, with Ted Ray (Stephen Marcus) his only serious competition. However, Vardon, a fellow working-class boy who had overcome tuberculosis to become Britain's premier professional golfer, had more in common with Ouimet than anyone expected, and the tournament unexpectedly became a hard-fought competition between an established star and a promising unknown. Directed by Bill Paxton in his second directorial effort, The Greatest Game Ever Played also stars Elias Koteas as Francis' father, Josh Flitter as the ten-year-old boy who becomes Francis' caddy, and Peyton List as Sarah Wallis, Francis' sweetheart.
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