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Legend of Bagger Vance, The

Mixed or average reviews
Based on 35 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 10 votes
Read user comments
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Movie Info
Genre(s): Romance
Written by:
Steven Pressfield (novel)
Jeremy Leven
Directed by: Robert Redford
Release Date:
Theatrical: November 3, 2000
DVD: April 3, 2001
Running Time: 126 minutes, Color
Origin: USA
Summary
RATING: PG-13 for some sexual content
Starring Will Smith, Matt Damon, Charlize Theron, and Andrea Powell
Set against the backdrop of a golf tournament in 1930's Georgia, this is the classic joumey of a hero (Damon) who falls into darkness through some disconnect with his soul, and then of his coming back into the light with the help of a spiritual guide (Smith). (DreamWorks)
Also On Metacritic
FILM: A River Runs Through It Lions for Lambs Quiz Show The Horse Whisperer
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
It handles a sports movie the way Billie Holiday handled a trashy song, by finding the love and pain beneath the story.
Read Full Review >Chicago Reader Lisa Alspector
After a slow setup, this charming fable wisely spends most of its time on the golf course.
Read Full Review >Rolling Stone Peter Travers
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.
Boston Globe Jay Carr
It offers pleasures of a kind that fewer and fewer films even seem to remember, much less aspire to.
Read Full Review >Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold
Despite some engaging performances and good scenes, it's by far the least original, and least accomplished, of the six Redford-directed films.
Read Full Review >Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington
Though it's sweet and likable to a fault, it's also a movie that never seems heartfelt or deep.
Read Full Review >Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman
Your reaction will depend on your response to the title character, who's meant to be God or one of God's messengers.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Examiner Wesley Morris
As entertaining, charming and conceited as other Robert Redford joints, but it's also insufferably obvious.
Read Full Review >TV Guide Frank Lovece
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.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan
So meticulous in its craftsmanship and so earnest in its storytelling that it feels both physically and spiritually airbrushed.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum
There's not a moment in Bagger Vance that can't be anticipated.
Read Full Review >Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez
The lack of cynicism is refreshing, but someone needed to tell Redford pixie dust and a nine-iron will only get you so far.
Read Full Review >Variety Todd McCarthy
A lightweight, modestly engaging yarn sporting reductive mystical and philosophical elements that are both valid and borderline silly.
Read Full Review >Dallas Observer Gregory Weinkauf
If you love the excitement of watching golf, this Damon-Smith bore is right up your fairway.
Read Full Review >Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt
The trouble lies in its stereotypical style, its schmaltzy emotionalism.
Read Full Review >Baltimore Sun Chris Kaltenbach
The Legend of Bagger Vance is nothing but "The Natural" with Will Smith playing the bat.
Read Full Review >Salon.com Stephanie Zacharek
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."
Read Full Review >New York Post Lou Lumenick
So slow the movie itself seems to be suffering from a hardening of the arteries.
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle Marjorie Baumgarten
Stunning camera shots by ace Michael Ballhaus are lovely to look at, and the performances are all excellent.
Read Full Review >Mr. Showbiz Cody Clark
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.
Read Full Review >Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy
What it plays like is a trifling story strung out to great length without much narrative drive, tinged with some disturbing racial undertones.
Read Full Review >TNT RoughCut Andy Klein
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.
Read Full Review >LA Weekly Ella Taylor
Leven's tepid screenplay and the passionless self-control of Redford's direction make this bloodless movie a chore to sit through.
Read Full Review >Time Richard Schickel
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.
Read Full Review >Film.com Peter Brunette
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.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Desson Thomson
This saved-by-an-angel story is redeemed mostly by Smith's comic instincts.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Rita Kempley
A slight, disingenuous script that robs the characters of their histories.
Read Full Review >The New York Times Dana Stevens
Not only is it excruciatingly boring -- but its central premises are so banal and dubious as to border on offensiveness.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 8.2 (out of 10) based on 10 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Larry C gave it a9:
Fantastic cinematography and a great performance from Smith make this mis-understood movie entertaining.
[Anonymous] gave it a0:
Actually this movie deserves a 5. It's a watchable but boring and totally predictable mush.
Micheal P. gave it a 9:
I find most movie reviewers cynical. And in the case, of a guy who has, Friday the 13, and Fast Times at Richmond High, as favorites of mine. And coming also from someone how knows the sport of golf and bowling, and motocross, and basketball, etc., etc. This movie does grab more than the cynical critics would like to say. See as a sports person. Sometimes it doesn't take an array of words to tune you in. But Only the right ones. And only at the right times. That's an insult to anyone who thought the second half of this movie was just a golf game and nothing more. This movie shows exactly what it is in each one of us were trying to find in are sport. Through a caddie, that leads more by spiritual growth, than numbers. Although he doesn't ignore the numbers either. This movie is emotional and good. Lets face it critics, well they all play their game too, of almost looking for something bad in something good. And then they also have to go out and find some crap movie and give it 5 stars. Some movie that no one else has, just of their own to get some kind of a name for themselves. Or try to make themselves look different from the pack. Even if the movie does totally bite. I never found a critic yet who is really a true to the art of enjoyment. And that's all movies are enjoyment. And this movie was about as enjoyable as you can get.
Andy S. gave it a 10:
Well Done.
Dick A. gave it a 10:
This movie is superb on every level. The sad thing is that this movie also exposes the ciritics for what they are: seashells that reflect the world of movies.. not life. Bravo Will and Matt and Charlize and Robert!
