Bobby Jones: Stroke of Genius (2004)

User Rating:

6.4/10   

Director:

Rowdy Herrington

Writers (WGA):

Rowdy Herrington (story) and
Kim Dawson (story) ...

Release Date:

30 April 2004 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Drama | Romance | Sport

Tagline:

There are finer things than winning championships.

Plot:

Jim Caviezel stars as golf legend Bobby Jones, the icon who retired from competition at the tender age of 28.

Plot Keywords:

Golf | Temper | Competition | 1930s | Athlete

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

James Caviezel	...	Bobby Jones (as Jim Caviezel)
Claire Forlani	...	Mary Malone Jones
Jeremy Northam	...	Walter Hagen
Malcolm McDowell	...	O.B. Keeler
Aidan Quinn	...	Harry Vardon
Brett Rice	...	Big Bob Jones
Connie Ray	...	Clara Jones
Devon Gearhart	...	Little Bobby (6 / 8)
Bubba Lewis	...	Bobby (14) (as Thomas 'Bubba' Lewis)
Dan Albright	...	Grandfather Jones
Paul Freeman	...	Angus
Alistair Begg	...	Stewart Maiden
Hilton McRae	...	Jimmy Maiden
Elizabeth Omilami	...	Camilla
Brian F. Durkin	...	Perry Adair

MPAA:

Rated PG for language.

Runtime:

USA:120 min | USA:129 min (TV version: Sony Pictures Television print) | Canada:128 min (Ontario)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Canada:PG (Ontario) | Finland:K-3 | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Singapore:PG | USA:PG (certificate #40746)

Filming Locations:

Agnes Scott College - 141 E. College Avenue, Decatur, Georgia, USA

Company:

Bobby Jones Films LLC

Goofs:

Factual errors: The golf courses supposed to be Oakmont and Merion have abundant coniferous trees - not at all a characteristic of either course. And the greens, tees and fairways are cut to today's short lengths and "striped" by modern-style mowers. The equipment of Bobby Jones's era was incapable of doing this. Green speeds in the movie are much too quick - in the 1920s and 1930s, they were about one-quarter of today's speeds.

Quotes:

[repeated line]
Stewart Maiden: Hey Bobby, hit hell out of it!

Soundtrack:

The Blue Danube Waltz, Opus 314

A real treat

If you are a golfer and your eyes don't well up when this movie starts you have no business in watching the rest of the movie. For the rest of you, this true story will give you a glimpse of one of the best, if not the best, golfers and truest gentlemen the golf world has ever known.

The story, acting, dialog, cinematography were all first class. Some good music was even put in from time to time. All that aside this is a moment in a life that we feel is more important than all that. Even if the story, acting, dialog and cinematography weren't up to par, it would not have mattered much because we learned about the man who lived and played in another zone than the rest of us. But, that is a moot point because everything here was up to par.

For years whenever we watched the Masters Golf Tournament we heard the name Bobby Jones and the announcers would list some of his accomplishments, however, this never really told us about the man himself. Well, this movie does. Okay, some things in it may seem sappy, corny, and not real, but in those days that is the way things were. Those were days when respect for everything meant everything, was everything; and people moved on from that standard.

In some ways the movie makes Bobby Jones out to be more human although we held him above that station. Yes, he had a temper when he hit a bad shot, but learned to control it. Yes, he had some medical problems that we never really knew about. Yes, he seemed somewhat selfish running from tournament to tournament at the expense of his family, but the pressures on him were really great. And, his family always stood by him. He accomplished what he wanted to accomplish at a young age, and then quit tournament golf to be more with his family. Later he founded Augusta National Golf Course where the Masters is played each year.

James Caviezel was probably the best person to play the role of Bobby Jones and his performance made Bobby Jones more real for me and this will always stay with me. It is probably too much to hope that the age of respect will once again come around, but to those who see this movie that standard will be remembered at least on the golf course. Anyway, this movie is a real special treat.