A mysterious wanderer approaches a Depression Era local hero of Savannah, Georgia. The stranger convinces the man he still has the stuff to compete in a golf tournament aimed at revitalizing the community; even if the best players in the country are competing against him.

First of all, I get it. I feel I have a full understanding of who Bagger Vance is and his purpose in the film. I get it, I realize all the parallels made between golf and how they relate to life. Normally, I'm a sucker for symbolism of this type. I further recognize that I dislike the game of golf, and dislike watching it played even more. But none of that changes the fact that I had zero pathos for any of the characters in the film. Bagger Vance is supposed to be mysterious - fine. But the other, more human, characters should be better defined.

I do think each character was interesting, and understand what they've been through. Junuh (Damon) enlisted and served in WWI, his platoon got wiped out. Theron's character lost her father and nearly all her money. These are major, major empathy building events that the script and camera virtually ignored. Never having served in WWI or lived through the Depression, I need to get a feel for what the people went through. I was denied that.

Wow, it felt good to get that out. Because this could've been one helluva movie; if I cared about the characters. The dialogue is pretty good, the performances are nice and the directing is fine. Technically, this is a great movie. But it misses where it counts.

Directed by Robert Redford.