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The Legend of Bagger Vance
Metascore
47 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 35 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 10 out of 35
  2. Mixed: 20 out of 35
  3. Negative: 5 out of 35
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  1. Chicago Sun-Times
    Reviewed by: Roger Ebert
    88
    It handles a sports movie the way Billie Holiday handled a trashy song, by finding the love and pain beneath the story.
  2. Rolling Stone
    Reviewed by: Peter Travers
    80
    Redford plays the game of filmmaking to reveal what he holds sacred: story, character, feeling, thoughtful pacing, and an alertness of nuances of honor and shame that most movies skip in the rush to the rush.
    All this critic's reviews
  3. Chicago Reader
    Reviewed by: Lisa Alspector
    80
    After a slow setup, this charming fable wisely spends most of its time on the golf course.
  4. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Jay Carr
    75
    It offers pleasures of a kind that fewer and fewer films even seem to remember, much less aspire to.
  5. Seattle Post-Intelligencer
    Reviewed by: William Arnold
    67
    Despite some engaging performances and good scenes, it's by far the least original, and least accomplished, of the six Redford-directed films.
  6. Chicago Tribune
    Reviewed by: Michael Wilmington
    63
    Though it's sweet and likable to a fault, it's also a movie that never seems heartfelt or deep.
  7. New York Daily News
    Reviewed by: Jami Bernard
    63
    A temple of enlightenment posing as a movie.
  8. San Francisco Examiner
    Reviewed by: Wesley Morris
    63
    As entertaining, charming and conceited as other Robert Redford joints, but it's also insufferably obvious.
  9. USA Today
    Reviewed by: Susan Wloszczyna
    63
    Molasses-paced fable.
  10. Charlotte Observer
    Reviewed by: Lawrence Toppman
    63
    Your reaction will depend on your response to the title character, who's meant to be God or one of God's messengers.
  11. TV Guide
    Reviewed by: Frank Lovece
    60
    Some brilliant human moments do emerge, and there's nothing wrong with a reminder to live life in harmony, and not to beat yourself up.
  12. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: Amy Taubin
    60
    More mushy than mystical.
  13. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Kenneth Turan
    60
    So meticulous in its craftsmanship and so earnest in its storytelling that it feels both physically and spiritually airbrushed.
  14. Entertainment Weekly
    Reviewed by: Lisa Schwarzbaum
    58
    There's not a moment in Bagger Vance that can't be anticipated.
  15. Christian Science Monitor
    Reviewed by: David Sterritt
    50
    The trouble lies in its stereotypical style, its schmaltzy emotionalism.
  16. Miami Herald
    Reviewed by: Rene Rodriguez
    50
    The lack of cynicism is refreshing, but someone needed to tell Redford pixie dust and a nine-iron will only get you so far.
  17. New York Post
    Reviewed by: Lou Lumenick
    50
    So slow the movie itself seems to be suffering from a hardening of the arteries.
  18. Philadelphia Inquirer
    Reviewed by: Steven Rea
    50
    A knuckleheaded period piece.
  19. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Bob Graham
    50
    A pleasant myth.
  20. Baltimore Sun
    Reviewed by: Chris Kaltenbach
    50
    The Legend of Bagger Vance is nothing but "The Natural" with Will Smith playing the bat.
  21. Austin Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Marjorie Baumgarten
    50
    Stunning camera shots by ace Michael Ballhaus are lovely to look at, and the performances are all excellent.
  22. Salon.com
    Reviewed by: Stephanie Zacharek
    50
    Redford glances too lightly off the story's racial questions. You could call that approach "eminently tasteful" if you're looking for a nice substitute for "wimpy."
  23. Dallas Observer
    Reviewed by: Gregory Weinkauf
    50
    If you love the excitement of watching golf, this Damon-Smith bore is right up your fairway.
  24. Film.com
    Reviewed by: Robert Horton
    50
    The result is fantasy that wafts away.
  25. Variety
    Reviewed by: Todd McCarthy
    50
    A lightweight, modestly engaging yarn sporting reductive mystical and philosophical elements that are both valid and borderline silly.
  26. Mr. Showbiz
    Reviewed by: Cody Clark
    48
    Without full-bodied characters to play, Smith and Damon are left to get by on their native charm -- something both have in considerable quantity, thankfully.
  27. Portland Oregonian
    Reviewed by: Shawn Levy
    42
    What it plays like is a trifling story strung out to great length without much narrative drive, tinged with some disturbing racial undertones.
  28. L.A. Weekly
    Reviewed by: Ella Taylor
    40
    Leven's tepid screenplay and the passionless self-control of Redford's direction make this bloodless movie a chore to sit through.
  29. Time
    Reviewed by: Richard Schickel
    40
    The actors, especially the ever appealing Smith, do what they can to ground the movie in reality, but it stubbornly remains dawdling, remote and pretentious.
  30. TNT RoughCut
    Reviewed by: Andy Klein
    40
    Middlebrow art has its built-in pitfalls, not the least of them sentimentality and intellectual flabbiness -- both of which are in abundant supply in Bagger Vance.
  31. Film.com
    Reviewed by: Peter Brunette
    30
    The real problem is that it's not a very good Hollywood film, and its flaccid style, cardboard characters, and paint-by-the-numbers plot make watching it a chore.
  32. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Desson Thomson
    30
    This saved-by-an-angel story is redeemed mostly by Smith's comic instincts.
  33. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Rita Kempley
    30
    A slight, disingenuous script that robs the characters of their histories.
  34. Slate
    Reviewed by: David Edelstein
    20
    The movie is one dead, overcomposed scene after another.
  35. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Dana Stevens
    10
    Not only is it excruciatingly boring -- but its central premises are so banal and dubious as to border on offensiveness.
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User Reviews

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User Score
8.2 out of 10

Universal acclaim- based on 20 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 7 out of 7
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 7
  3. Negative: 0 out of 7
  1. Redbox
    9
    It's a beautifully romantic story based on a Steven Pressfield novel that uses a Depression-era exhibition golf tournament set in the heart if the South to tell the story of how war-scarred onetime hometown idol Rannulph Junuh (Damon) found his golf game again, and in the process, himself. Damon takes alternate turns being likable and frustrating as the promising local gold champ who leaves everything behind, including Adele Invergordon (Theron), the woman who loves him, to go to war only to disappear. But the jewel of the film is Smith's role as Junuh's inflappable caddy, Bagger Dance. Smith displays none of his trademark swagger, instead acting as a mythical advisor who knows the secrets of life but also has the wisdom to know that each man must discover those secrets for himself. J. Michael Moncrief is the adorable young boy who never stops believing in Junuh and the character through whose eyes the story is told. Jack Lemmon provides the narration. Theron is beautiful as always and navigates the tricky role of abandoned fiancee who in spite of waiting for ten long years without any word, never stopped loving her man. Redford's direction is gentle, reverent and steeped in the romance of the South and the game of golf. The cinematography highlights the natural beauty of the greens.… Full Review »
  2. incarolina
    10
    almost 10 years later, but Iove this movie.. and agree with Michael P and Dick A.. why aren't movie critics called movie cynics.. It takes something dark, twisted almost abominable for them to give it a thumbs up.. I always know now, that if a critic hates it , i run to see it and likewise if they love it ... I RUN.. AS pretentious as they are, if the general public understands it and likes it , they only have contempt... I find them ( movie critics) as only in competition with other criitics, it is not popular to "like " a movie, they find that below themselves and I find them contemptible ..… Full Review »
  3. JonathanC
    10
    Having seen films of this nature I was sceptical as to the potential quality I was going to see, but I doubt there is a finer example of movie magic than this. Perfectly paced movie, with the utmost heart and passion to tell a story, this movie is a pleasure in every respect. From the perfectly pitched performances, wonderful edited scenes, and the marvellous attention to detail in everything from wardrobe to cinematography, this movie crafts a masterpiece. I watch this film often to renew the experience.… Full Review »
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