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Bobby Jones: Stroke of Geniusreview by Mark Moring |
posted 4/30/2004
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I recently watched a film in which Jim Caviezel plays a man with the weight of the world on his shoulders, a man determined to do the will of his father, a man who occasionally endured great pain—physical and emotional—en route to immortality. The Passion of The Christ? Nope. This was a movie about a golfer.
But Bobby Jones: Stroke of Genius is more than just a sports movie. It's a film about triumph over adversity, about the complexities of relationships, and about the grit, determination and integrity of a family man on multiple missions—clichés all, indeed, but they're handled tastefully and sensitively enough that you really do care about what happens to the good guy in the end.
Jim Caviezel as Bobby Jones
Much of that is due to Jones' story; he's a fascinating man who overcame numerous hurdles to become not just the world's best golfer, but to earn three college degrees (including one from Harvard Law School) along the way. But it's also due to Caviezel's winsome portrayal. The Passion proved that Caviezel could play the role of a tortured man. Here's a more well-rounded Caviezel displaying a wider range of emotions. We see everything from an impetuous temper (Jones angrily hurled quite a few clubs early in his career), to the elation of winning a title (he won 13 overall, including the Grand Slam in 1930), to the conflicted frustration of trying to meet family expectations (Dad wants a great golfer, Mom wants an educated son, and wife Mary wants Bobby at home), to the agony of dealing with ongoing pain (physical and emotional).
Jones was a sickly child who almost died at birth, and suffered from various ailments throughout his life, including an agonizing case of varicose veins during the height of his career. He also endured great emotional stress from fame, family expectations, and his own relentless drive for perfection. All in all, Caviezel gives a solid performance. Though I'd hardly call him a "charismatic" leading man (along the lines of, say, Cary Grant, Mel Gibson or Tom Cruise), he does have a great smile—which we saw so rarely in The Passion.
Caviezel worked with a golf coach to get the swing of things
Additionally, Caviezel, who rarely played golf before making this film, is convincing in the role of the man many believe had the most beautiful swing of all time. Caviezel recently quipped, "Hey, if I can play the King of Kings, I can play the King of Swings!" But he first had to train long hours with a golf instructor to learn Jones' "stroke of genius," and the on-screen results are believable. (Click here for an interesting story about Caviezel's training.)
Bobby Jones opens in 1936 when a retired Jones returns to Scotland for an exhibition at the famed St. Andrew's Old Course, the site of his 1930 British Amateur victory. The town has literally shut down—store windows read, "Bobby's Back! Shop Closed!"—as everyone flocks to the course to see him play one more round. He nails a beauty down the fairway off the first tee, and it lands, some three decades earlier, in a Georgia backyard as we flash back to Bobby's boyhood. We see a gaunt, pale 8-year-old practicing feverishly, determined to get it right. Dad approves; Mom is wary; and Grandpa, an uptight conservative who thinks golf is a pagan waste of time, tells Bobby, "Maybe you'll grow up to be an engineer, not fritter away your time playing worthless ballgames." Indeed, Bobby does end up earning an engineering degree from Georgia Tech—while becoming the world's best at this "worthless ballgame."
Bobby Jones and Walter Hagen (Jeremy Northam)
Ironically, from a financial perspective, golf does remain literally a "worthless ballgame" for Jones, who never turned pro, choosing to remain an amateur his entire career—mostly to focus on going to college. That's perhaps the most remarkable thing about Jones' accomplishments; he played the game part-time! (Incidentally, Grandpa ultimately "comes around" in a touching scene near the end of the film.)
We later see Jones winning the Georgia Amateur and playing in his first U.S. Amateur at the amazingly young age of 14, prompting Atlanta sportswriter O.B. Keeler (played wonderfully by Malcolm McDowell) to dub young Bobby the "Dixie Whiz Kid." Keeler, who later wrote Jones' authorized biography, is a family friend who follows Jones all over the world, and through his eyes, we gain additional insight into Bobby's personality—including his fiery competitiveness and feisty temper. (It's amusing, in a guilty sort of way, to hear Caviezel—the man who is Jesus on big screens the world over—drawl the dreaded "S-word" during his club-throwing fits. But fret not: The cursing in this family-friendly film is minimal.)
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