Eye Candy #323 - "The Greatest Game Ever Played"

The Greatest Game Ever Played: This Disney film is manipulative in the extreme. Directed by Bill Paxton, it's the true story of Francis Ouimet (played by Shia Lebeouf), life-long amateur golfer who, at the age of 20, is picked to represent the US at the 1913 US Open against the greatest player of his age, Harry Vardon (Stephan Dillane), with Ouimet going against both his family's wishes and the golf-playing society at large, to win it. It's manipulative in the fact that it changed the actual ending of the event (yes, Ouimet won; in the movie he scrapes by with 1 over, in reality he won by FIVE). The film is well made, spending as much time on Vardon as it does on Ouimet, and both leads are solid as their respective players. It just feels like it's lacking some kind of "oomph" to put it over the top. I would give a 3 1/2 stars if I could. Greatest movie about golf? Nope. That's still "Caddyshack". Woodchuck sez, "Was hoping for more."