The Greatest Game Ever Played

The ever-popular sports underdog formula takes to the links in Bill Paxton's well-meaning but uneven biopic about working-class-born Francis Ouimet, who won the 1913 U.S. Open at a time when golf was exclusively an upper-crust pastime. The run-up to the championship is told within the context of the “democratization” of the sport, with director Paxton and his production team achieving a nice period sheen, while also keeping the successive rounds visually arresting. Shia LaBeouf makes Ouimet an earnestly likable fellow, Stephen Dillane exudes quiet authority as his main British rival, and viewers will appreciate Ouimet's unlikely caddie, a pint-sized, hardscrabble kid played by scene-stealing Josh Flitter. Granted, the plot of The Greatest Game Ever Played follows an expected trajectory—even if it weren't based on a true story, one could predict every narrative stroke—but as a sold family-friendly film it's easily par. Recommended. [Note: DVD extras include two audio commentaries (one by director Bill Paxton; the other by writer Mark Frost), a 26-minute “From Caddie to Champion: Francis Ouimet” documentary on the film's real-life subject Ouimet, the on-the-set featurette “A View from the Gallery” (16 min.), the seven-minute featurette “Two Legends and the Greatest Game” on Ouimet and real-life caddy Eddie Lowery, and trailers. Bottom line: a fine extras package for a solid family film.] (F. Swietek)[Blu-ray Review—June 23, 2009—Walt Disney, 120 min., PG, $34.99—Making its first appearance on Blu-ray, 2005's The Greatest Game Ever Played sports a decent transfer and a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack. Blu-ray extras are identical to those on the standard DVD release, including two audio commentaries (one by director Bill Paxton; the other by writer Mark Frost), a 26-minute “From Caddie to Champion: Francis Ouimet” documentary on the film's real-life subject, a 16-minute “A View from the Gallery” location featurette, the seven-minute featurette “Two Legends and the Greatest Game” on Ouimet and real-life caddy Eddie Lowery, and trailers. Bottom line: a fine Blu-ray debut for this links biopic.]