'Greatest Game Ever Played' is a whole new ballgame

Any movie that hypes itself as "The Greatest Game Ever Played" is just begging to be knocked down by the critics, but the truth is that the hyperbole is not so out of line: It's by far the most inspirational sports movie to come along in many a month.

MOVIE REVIEW

THE GREATEST GAME EVER PLAYED

DIRECTOR: Bill Paxton

CAST: Shia LaBeouf, Luke Askew, Stephen Dillane

RUNNING TIME: 120 minutes

RATING: PG for some mild language

GRADE: A-

LINKS/TRAILERS
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The sport is golf, and the title refers not to the activity in general but to one specific game: the 1913 U.S. Open that boiled down to a contest between England's old pro, Harry Vardon (Stephen Dillane), and a 20-year-old American upstart named Francis Ouimet (Shia LaBeouf).

Interestingly, the script -- which was adapted by TV-writer Mark Frost from his own book and has none of the feel of having been labored over by the usual team of Hollywood hacks -- takes the point of view of both characters equally.

Both had impoverished childhoods, both grew up next door to exclusive golf links and both are engaged in what is essentially a personal class struggle: working-class athletes who excel in a snobbish gentlemen's sport that doesn't really accept them.

They meet in the 1913 edition of the fall classic at the Boston country club where Ouimet recently has been a caddie: Vardon carrying the hopes and pressure of the British Empire on his shoulders and Ouimet as America's last-minute Cinderella entry.

The director is actor Bill Paxton, and, following his knockout 2001 directing debut, "Frailty," it's more evidence that he's a lot more interesting behind the camera than he's ever been in front of it ("Titanic," "Spy Kids 2," etc.).

On the surface, his movie is an arresting period piece, filled with subtle details that evoke the vibrant optimism of pre-WWI America and bathed in a muted color scheme that simulates hand-tinted, turn-of-the-century photographs.

But Paxton also digs deep, skillfully dramatizing the internal motivations -- and propelling demons -- of his two protagonists, and turning their dueling quests into a genuinely inspirational parable that tries to avoid most of the gushing sports-movie cliches.

The film is filled with computer graphics that pull us into microscopic close-ups and take the eye of the golf ball as it soars around the course. Golf purists may find it a bit much, but, for the rest of us, it adds interest to what can be a visually static sport.

And it doesn't detract from the human emotion. Like most Disney family movies, this one is not specifically designed to be an actor's showcase, but LaBeouf ("Constantine," "Holes") and Dillane both rise above the technology to strongly connect with the audience.

And for Dillane (Merlin in "King Arthur," Leonard Wolf in "The Hours") it could be the star-making part that's so persistently eluded him for the past 20 years. His Harry Vardon is a character of irresistible stature, inner strength, quiet charisma and likability.

Indeed, Dillane is eerily reminiscent here of the early Sean Connery, to the point where you begin to suspect that all the recent media speculation about who will be the new James Bond has missed the best candidate. This guy could do the job.

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