Customer Reviews

Bobby Jones: Stroke of Genius [VHS]

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I had the pleasure of seeing this movie at its premiere in NYC and learning more about the making of the film. The film itself is well done and gives you a real sense of the character of Bob Jones. He is a man that overcame his own problems through discipline, strength of character, and determination. No excuses, just do it. Lessons most of us need to practice!

But the story behind the story is just as inspiring. The independent film made by the Bobby Jones Film Foundation was made on a shoestring budget yet has continued to give and raise money for charities. The foundation believes in the philanthropic legacy of the Jones family - there's more to life that money and winning championships. Bobby Jones was diagnosed and suffered from syringomyelia - a painful and degenerative spinal disorder that some 240,000 Americans suffer from.

The American Syringomyelia Alliance Project (ASAP) is a non-profit charity supporting research and education for people affected by syringomyelia. The Jones family and the Bobby Jones Film Foundation are generously supporting ASAP as well as other charities. Bobby Jones chose to make the best of his life despite syringomyelia - through his continuing legacy, ASAP is improving the lives of those with syringomyelia today. Go see this film and be prepared to be inspired.
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I am a member of Robert Tyre Jones's family. We had no financial investment whatsoever in this film. The producers and writers were kind enough to ask for our input about some of the family background for the picture. As for the borderline alchoholism........ where'd you get that? Because he drank along with everyone else in the movie that puts him in line for the Big Book? I think you may have jumped to a conclusion that is not supported.
Now, as for the movie, the strongest critics have probably been our family. We very much liked the movie, the cast was top notch, the music by James Horner was superb, the scenery and costumes were meticulously in period. Mr. Jones did not lead a flamboyant life, he was an extremely well educated southern gentleman, he was a family man.Naturally this will make for a sedate and well mannered yet entertaining film. It would have been inappropriate to add sex and car jackings in there for ratings. He was given the Freedom of the City of St. Andrews, Scotland in 1957, the only other American to have recieved this honor was Benjamin Franklin. I give this movie a 2 thumbs up. Box office does not make a movie good a movie stands on it's own merit. I highly recommend this to families in their homes on DVD.

I am not a golfer, but seeing this movie made me want to play. I was impressed by the beauty of the golf courses. Bobby impressed me very much. I liked his sense of honesty. He is a good roll model for young men. This movie is a classic to me. When you want to come away from a movie feeling good, go see this one. The way the story was told was very good. From a small boy, and then growing up. I thought Jim Caviezel looked very much like Bobby. I was not bored at all.

Bobby Jones was a golf legend in his time. He made a name for himself in the 1920s and 1930s by winning some of the most coveted tournaments in golf. This is his story, lovingly told.

We first meet Bobby as a small boy in Georgia. He been sickly as a baby and his mother wants to overprotect him. But he tags along when his father is trying to perfect his own skill at the game, and eventually Bobby wins some tournaments as a teenager. We all want him to win, despite the fact that he has a tendency to overreact when he misses a shot and throws his golf clubs around.

As he grows into manhood the role of Bobby, the adult, is taken over by Jim Caviezel. He's actually 36 years old and looked a little old for the part, which followed Bobby's career up to the age of 28, when he quit golf forever, suffering from a debilitating neurological disease. Bobby's a good guy, marrying his young sweetheart and becoming a father of two small children. Problem is that, in spite of Bobby getting a college education, he still loved his golf and kept traveling around the world to play. This disturbed his wife, who understood the strain Bobby was always under when he played. We all get to feel Bobby's stress as we watch his semi-breakdowns, which wound up to be medical in nature.

Some of the film was shot at St. Andrew's golf course in Scotland, and really captured the challenges of that particular course. The period of history was beautifully rendered as well, with all the details in place to transport the viewer into the time period evoked. It was a pleasure to step into that world for the course of the film.

I guess this could be called an inspiring story of this man who overcame adversity and won so many accolades. He certainly is a legend in the golf world. I was glad to learn something about him, even though I felt the story dragged too much and never really captured my heart.

As powerful as the movie and Jim Caviezel's portrayal of Christ in The Passion of the Christ is, the movie IS NOT ENTERTAINING. Big Surprise! This movie is entertaining to watch because of Caviezel's subtle portrayal of Bobby Jones, the good supporting cast, the wonderful scenery, and the positive message of the movie. I'm definitely going to purchase the DVD, and I don't even like golf!

For as long as I can remember my goal in life was to be the starting third baseman for the Chicago White Sox. Which was an ambitious goal considering I never even started on my Little League teams. I always thought that if I was gifted in baseball that I would be willing to play without pay. I loved the game that much.

Bobby Jones loved golf like I love baseball and he had the ability that matched his desire. He also had a life outside of Golf and was never content to be defined by what he accomplished as a player.

Jim Caviezel is amazingly convincing as Bobby Jones. Caviezel has a remarkable ability to become the character he is portraying. His dead-on performance brings added poignancy to the narrative.

The story is also aided by the strong performances of Claire Forlani as Jone's wife and Jeremy Northam as his main rival, Walter Hagen. In lesser hands these supporting roles could have been caricatures that did little to add to the pathos or the plot.

Through these performance and through the extraordinary golf sequences the viewer comes away with an acute understanding of the love affair that people have with the games they play.

*****
This movie was exemplary from the get-go---the acting, the story, the golf scenes---beatiful! It is the story of Bobby Jones' personal journey to greatness. It is not just for golfers, but for anyone interested in being entertained, inspired, and uplifted, all at the same time.

Of course, Bobby Jones' story is true as well. The movie illustrates his struggles balancing family concerns with golf, struggling with physical pain and chronic illness, and the pressures faced by a great athlete. Bobby Jones was an individual with courage and integrity. Special features include an actual clip of a speech made by Bobby Jones. Movies this good are not made often enough!
*****

With maturity comes interest in more important things. Jones' friend O.B.Keeler says them in this best golf film: 1) Money will ruin sport; 2) Life consists of much more than winning championships; 3) You've did so much for other people, e.g. winning championships for your dad, etc, now what are you going to do for yourself upon retirment from competitive golf? Build Augusta National!

This well acted life of Bobby Jones is so well done by the actors. Give them all credit, they masterfully created essence of this great sportsman's life. The drama is slow developing and is not sensational, thus swimming upstream in our cultural air. That is why I enjoyed it so immensely. For this reviewer it is in the class of "Chariots of Fire."

More like this. The world needs it.

Not being a golfer or a fan of biographies of sportsmen, this viewer found a surprising amount of satisfaction in this recreation of the life of Bobby Jones, whose fame in the game of golf is legendary. So the question arises: "How can a film about golf maintain such a viewer's attention and appreciation?"

The answer lies in the physical production of this beautiful little film. Capturing the essence of the world in the 1920s and 1930s not only in costuming and manners and atmosphere but in sociologic and philosophic vantages, Director Rowdy Herrington has ably explored the life and times of the reluctant hero in a way that exhumes a period in history when everyone needed something to believe in. Actors Jim Caviezel, Malcolm McDowell, Jeremy Northam, and Claire Forlani not only look their parts: their demeanor before the camera absorbs the state of mind of America lapsing from the riotous 20s to the massive depression of the 30s.

Bobby Jones physical problems, both self induced and genetic, are explored with just enough veracity to make him more of a well-rounded character than a cardboard saint (we don't learn the name of his neurological disorder - syringomyelia - until the final credits). His struggle against seemingly insurmountable odds to move through every golfing challenge of his day and succeed beyond the realm of possibility is well captured in Caviezel's delicately nuanced performance.

Not a great movie, but certainly worth more attention than it received in the theaters. You don't need to be a golfer to appreciate the beauty of this little moment of nostalgia. Grady Harp, June 05

To fully appreciate THE GREATEST GAME EVER PLAYED, it's good to compare it with BOBBY JONES, STROKE OF GENIUS. Both films cost between $20M and $25M. Both were about the game of golf at the turn of the 20th century. Both focused on young, underprivileged underdogs who went on to become the best amateurs in the game, beating out their professional competition. And both show the influence of the great Harry Vardon.

BOBBY JONES, STROKE OF GENIUS is, of course, about Bobby Jones, only amateur ever to win all three tournaments of the Grand Slam in the same year. And he did it while also working on three college degrees simultaneously - thus the "Genius." Jim Caviezel (Passion of the Christ) did a decent job playing Bobby, although he didn't look anything like the man. And Aiden Quinn was good as Harry Vardon - even down to his golfing ability - although he was all but cut from the film because he wouldn't shave a goatee he had grown for another film.

While BOBBY JONES is about an entire golf career, THE GREATEST GAME EVER PLAYED is about one tournament: the 1913 US Open, held at Brookline Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts. That was the year that a caddie - Francis Ouimet, who lived across the street from the country club - beat the two top British professionals, including Harry Vardon, and won the tournament - the biggest upset in golf history. Shia LeBeouf (Holes) does a great job playing Ouimet, and Stephen Dillane (The Hours) is superb as Vardon.

The biggest difference between these two films is in the direction. With BOBBY JONES, Rowdy Herrington (Road House) opted to do a very straight drama in the tradition of Chariots of Fire. It turned out to be far more than he could handle. The script is weak. There is far too much time spent on the young Bobby Jones, which contributes very little to the main plot. And visually, it is, well, boring. There are only a handful of creatively interesting shots.

But in THE GREATEST GAME, director Bill Paxton (Apollo 13, acting) pulls out all the stops. Not only is the script taut, but every part of it is essential. And the visuals are incredible, including effects that have never been seen in a sports film before, let alone one about golf. The art direction - including sets, costumes and graphics - is also superb, creating a totally believable and visually sumptuous world. You don't have to love golf to love this movie. That can't be said about BOBBY JONES. While both films have heart, THE GREATEST GAME also has fun.

When I first saw THE GREATEST GAME, there were a couple of things that bothered me. I didn't feel the love relationship between Francis and Sarah Wallis (Peyton List) was believable because their ages seemed so different. I just couldn't see her falling for a boy. I also had trouble accepting a ten-year-old caddy, Eddie Lowery, played like a true ham by Josh Flitter. It seemed like a typical Disney element (the kid who is smarter than the adults that surround him), and I just didn't buy into it. Then I discovered that that really was the way it was! Which doesn't make it any easier to believe, but at least it's true.

These are two very different films about similar events. While BOBBY JONES STROKE OF GENIUS is a good film (3 to 4 stars), THE GREATEST GAME EVER PLAYED is a great film (5 stars). Both directors had a vision; but Bill Paxton has proven that he can carry his out.

Waitsel Smith