Direction in the rough for 'Bagger Vance'

Robert Redford's effort ignores the realities of the time, the people and the place. And the movie suffers for it.

By STEVE PERSALL

© St. Petersburg Times, published November 2, 2000

Tarnished golden boys are Robert Redford's specialty, men who have it better than they realize until it's nearly too late. As an actor, he takes roles making his good looks play against himself. As a director, he allows other handsome stars to suffer for being photogenic.

Redford finally found a golden boy he can't smudge in Matt Damon, at least not to the degree needed for The Legend of Bagger Vance. Damon plays Rannulph Junuh, a former golf whiz who left for nasty action in World War I, came back to Savannah, Ga., and crawled into a whiskey bottle. His chance at redemption is an exhibition match with PGA legends Bobby Jones and Walter Hagen.

But, redemption from what? Because Junuh was the only survivor from his platoon and won a Medal of Honor? Because he's ashamed of being an alcoholic? These and a couple of other ideas are mentioned, but the emotionally damaged side of Junuh lacks motivation. He says several times that he has lost his swing, and we're left to imagine what that means for him. Perhaps the pain is defined better in Steven Pressfield's novel.

[Dreamworks photo] After years of separation, Adele Invergordon (Charlize Theron) and Rannulph Junuh (Matt Damon) share a bittersweet dance.

Damon isn't an actor who brings anguish to the table. Beard stubble and mussed hair aren't enough to make him seem pathetic, or even down on his luck. Those lines on his face aren't creases of age or hard times. Damon appears too healthy playing a drunk with personal demons. Redford originally planned to play the role. He's too old for Junuh, but his rugged look is closer to what the character needs.

Junuh's story is told through the wide eyes of young Hardy Greaves (J. Michael Moncrief), who learned about the golfer's abbreviated career from his father.

By all rights, the movie should be called The Legend of Rannulph Junuh, but that doesn't have the same ring to it. Bagger Vance is Junuh's caddie, a mystical stranger with fortune-cookie ideas about golf as a metaphor for life. Will Smith plays Bagger like some Bogey-Wan Kenobi, his charm muted by the role's eloquent sainthood.

"A man's grip on his club is just like his grip on life," Bagger tells Junah when they meet. Redford implied the same thing about fly-fishing rods in A River Runs Through It and baseball bats in The Natural. This time, it isn't convincing since the personal odds aren't as high (thanks to Damon) and Bagger's magic isn't, well, magical.

Smith's easy-going personality is always nice to see on screen, although out of place for this film in this era. It's as if segregation never hit Savannah. Bagger hangs around the player's clubhouse and schmoozes with the mayor and nobody says a word about his color. Even a drunk white Southerner wouldn't have patience in 1928 for some things he says to Junuh. Even fables need an element of truth.

The match with Jones (Joel Gretsch) and Hagen (Bruce McGill) is organized by Junuh's former lover, Adele Invergordon (Charlize Theron). Her father designed a new course, then killed himself, leaving her to save the manicured land from greedy politicians. Theron and Damon strike sparks, yet her role's fickle ways prevent any sustained romance. When Adele finally latches onto Rannulph, we aren't sure if she's sincere.

Redford's worst mistake is too much dependency on voice-over narration to explain the feelings of his characters, or even what they're doing at that moment. Jack Lemmon portrays Hardy as a retired duffer in bookend sequences, and as narrator, speaks more lines than most of the actors. The Legend of Bagger Vance takes on the nature of an illustrated audiobook. Abridged, of course.

Redford gets all the details right, from pinpoint reproductions of 1920s Georgia to computer-enhanced golf scenes when we get a ball's-eye view of some impressive shots. Judianna Makovsky's costume designs are a good bet for an Academy Award nomination. That we pay more attention to everybody's clothes rather than the drama is a telling point about Redford's film.

The Legend of Bagger Vance

Grade: C+

Director: Robert Redford

Cast: Matt Damon, Will Smith, Charlize Theron, J. Michael Moncrief, Bruce McGill, Joel Gretsch, Jack Lemmon

Screenplay: Jeremy Leven, based on the novel by Steven Pressfield

Rating: PG-13; profanity, brief violence and sexual situations.

Running time: 127 min.

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