There are lots of sports’ movies out there. There are few that truly strike a chord with you and cause you to think. The ones that are based on true stories can often have the most resonance with an audience. Seeing someone overcome barriers in a world that is blocked off to them is not something new that has been occurring in the world of sports. It’s something that has always happened. That’s why “The Greatest Game Ever Played” is so resonant. Not only is it a film about a great sport with excellent players but it also has fantastic creative talent such as Director Bill Paxton, Screenwriter Mark Frost, and Shia LaBeouf and Stephen Dillane, the two lead actors.
Francis Ouimet’s father was never going to let him have a travel alarm clock or become the first US Open amateur. At the time in 1913, golf was a sport that was closed to those who were not wealthy. Ouimet coming from an immigrant family made this an impossibility until he becomes a caddie at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts and eventually wins the Massachusetts Schoolboy Championship after having practiced his game. Eventually, he gets asked to play with Mr. Hastings, a club member, and shoots a round of 81 despite a nine on one hole. Others begin to take notice of the young Ouimet and with the help of the Club Caddiemaster and Hastings, the former gets the chance to play in the US Amateur.
Not only is it a film about a great sport with excellent players but it also has fantastic creative talent such as Director Bill Paxton, Screenwriter Mark Frost, and Shia LaBeouf and Stephen Dillane, the two lead actors.”
While Ouimet looks to Harry Vardon, a successful golf professional, what he does not know is that Vardon faced the same challenges growing up in England as a young child who became interested in golf at age seven. It’s what causes Vardon to grow an admiration for Ouimet, even when the latter bests him in the US Open. When Ouimet falls one stroke short of qualifying for the championship due to seeing his father stare at him as he attempts to putt, he follows the promise he made to his father who gave him the $50 he needed to qualify: he will get a real job and forget about golf.
However, the US Golf Association President enters the sporting goods’ store Ouimet works at one day. The President asks Ouimet to play in the US Open. Ouimet is told by his father that if he wishes to play in the tournament, he will have to find his own place to live after it’s over. While his father is not supportive, his mother continues to support him all the way. What’s truly notable is the friendship that also develops between Ouimet and Eddie Lowery, his 10-year-old caddie and friend.
Lowery is particularly helpful in keeping Ouimet focused on the game and not others around him. After the first two rounds, Vardon and Ted Ray, another professional golfer, take the lead but Ouimet eventually gets his game back up. He ends up tying with Vardon and Ray at the end of round four, which means the three would duke it out in an 18-hole playoff to determine the winner. Lord Northcliffe mocks Ouimet’s social standing and Vardon stridently defends Ouimet. What’s particularly interesting is the difference between Vardon and Ray, both Brits, and Americans such as Ouimet and the other American professional, John McDermott.
Paxton and Frost make sure to point out that there are snobs such as Northcliffe and McDermott in every culture while there are good and solid people like Ouimet, Vardon, and Ray out there. When Ray loses, Ouimet and Vardon go at it. Eventually, Vardon finishes with a par, and when it comes to one final putt, Lowery calms Ouimet down who is nervous. Ouimet wins and it’s particularly beautiful to see people give money to him but he tells them to give the money to Lowery, his caddie. It’s beautiful to see him accept only $1 from his father, who smiles happily at him and disappears in the crowd of people. Maybe, that could buy a travel alarm clock for the young kid. He eventually becomes a multimillionaire in real life.
The best scene in the movie comes between Ouimet and Vardon at the end. It’s something to see the way LaBeouf and Dillane portray this quiet rivalry, respect, and friendship. It shows what great actors they truly are. The congratulations and wish to play once more from Vardon to Ouimet illustrates just how far their relationship has grown. It promises a truly bright future for Ouimet if he chooses to go professional, which he never does. The rest of the cast, including Josh Flitter’s Lowery, Elias Koteas as Ouimet’s father, Stephen Marcus as Ted Ray, Peyton List as Sarah Wallis, and Marnie McPhail as Ouimet’s mother bring this story all the more to the screen. This film not only shows that golf is a storied and historical sport but also one that brings along with it a great story. With Paxton leading the charge, this film does justice to the sport of golf and all players throughout its history who have played it.
