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Parents' Guide to

Bobby Jones: Stroke of Genius

By Nell Minow, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 12+

Bobby Jones deserves a better movie than this one.

Movie PG 2004 128 minutes
Bobby Jones: Stroke of Genius Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Community Reviews

age 12+

Based on 1 parent review

age 12+

Golf, Slow to Watch on TV, but the most challenging game there is!

This is mild in profanity compared to Spectrum's TV listings which now contain hard core pornographic titles to shows. This movie shows the price Jones payed for his greatness. The movie is another, and just as good, Chariots of Fire. The relationships are excellent: Malcolm McDowell, a sports reporter, and Bobby Jones, Bobby Jones and his Father, Jones' father and his father, Jones' Grandfather. There are confrontations with Bobby's Father and his Grandfather. The mother is supportive and his wife, Claire Florani as Mary, is lovely, but suffers under Bobby's bad health and his continuous tournament play. She holds out through all this until Bobby finally retires from tournament golf. He starts the Augusta Golf Course. Through his fame and golf competitions, he also completed a master's degree in Literature as well as passing the Bar the first time to become a lawyer, his retiring trade. The basic message is that money will ruin sports. A timely message and somewhat prescient conclusion.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say: (1 ):
Kids say: Not yet rated

A great man and a great golfer like Bobby Jones deserves a better movie than this one, which is as clumsy as its title. Clearly, this movie was made for love of the game and for love of Jones, but it tells us rather than shows us, and then tells us again, and it takes a very long time doing it, too. Like the game it depicts, it moves very, very slowly. There are lots of long, loving shots of the sun-dappled greens, slow-mo swings and swelling strings, glimpses of golden light accompanied by hooting panpipes, and quotes from Kipling, Will Rogers, Tennyson, and then Kipling again.

The film is nice to look at, and actor Jeremy Northam's turn as the dissolute but resolute golf pro Walter Hagen adds some flavor to the story. But the other performances are as flat as the dialogue.

Movie Details

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