Visited the parents this weekend. Climbed Mt Coolum today. Steep climb but it’s pretty short. All in all, a very relaxing weekend, and one that I needed. Straight back to paper writing on Monday. I probably should have been working on it over the weekend, too, but there’s more to life than service discovery. A lot more.
The final DVD we watched last week was The Legend of Bagger Vance. I really enjoyed that film. On the surface it’s about golf, but underneath it’s about life and the demons each of us lives with. In fact, the movie used golf as a metaphor for life. The script writer (actually, I think it was based on a novel) could have used almost any sport to convey the same message, it’s just that there are elements of golf which are particularly suited as metaphors for aspects of one’s life. I won’t detail what these metaphors are because this review (or whatever you might choose to call it) will become boring. Besides, upon watching the movie, the important metaphors are quite obvious, and so I recommend you just watch the film. It is worth it, regardless of its score on IMDB.com.
The film follows the story of a gifted young golfer, Rannulph Junuh, who is sent off to fight in World War I. The war breaks him psychologically. After the war is over, he hides from the world. Eventually he returns to his home town of Savanah in Georgia. He is convinced to play in a golf tournament organised by his one time girlfriend, Adele Invergordon, who needs to raise money so that she can keep the golf course her father created. Junuh meets a caddy by the name of Bagger Vance who helps to get his game and his life back on track. One of the questions the film doesn’t answer for you is "exactly who or what is Bagger Vance?" There are hints in the film and the title itself that suggest Bagger Vance is not human, but possibly Junuh’s guardian angle. The stories of Junuh’s golfing comeback, his romance with Adele and the demons of his past are combined to create an interesting and touching plot. The movie is filmed beautifully, and is perhaps its most outstanding feature. There are also strong performances from Matt Damon (one of my favourite actors), Will Smith (who plays the part of Bagger Vance extraordinarily well) and Charlize Theron, who does a fair job of playing Adele the southern belle. However, I felt Theron laid on the ditsiness, if there is such a word, a bit too much at some points. A beautiful film. Don’t be put off by the IMDB.com score (6.4/10 at the moment). I noticed that almost everyone that gave this film a bad score thought that the movie was only about golf, which should give you some indication of the amount of faith you should place in that score.
