Top golf movies: Like a guide to life
If life is like a game of golf - and heaven knows every golfer says it is - then golf movies are like guides to life. Of course.
If life is like a game of golf - and heaven knows every golfer says it is - then golf movies are like guides to life. Of course.
In honor of the U.S. Open, here are 10 notable films of fairways, fat shots and "Fore!," listed chronologically and rated on our five-point scale: Hole-in-one, Eagle, Birdie, Par, Subpar.
"Follow the Sun" (1951)
RATING: Birdie
STARS: Glenn Ford, Anne Baxter
PLOT: Biopic of legendary golfer Ben Hogan, who, after suffering from a terrible auto accident, came back to win more championships.
"Pat and Mike" (1952)
RATING: Hole-in-one
STARS: Katharine Hepburn, Spencer Tracy
PLOT: In the seventh Hepburn-Tracy pairing, sportswoman Pat nearly wins the amateur women's national golf championship, prompting sports agent Mike to represent her. They verbally spar all the rest of the film.
"The Caddy" (1953)
RATING: Par
STARS: Jerry Lewis, Dean Martin, Donna Reed
PLOT: Too-nervous-to-play golf-wiz Lewis turns caddie in order to mentor Martin. A middling middle film in the team's oeuvre; nonetheless, it premiered the Oscar-nominated song "That's Amore."
"Babe" (1975 TV-movie)
RATING: Eagle
STARS: Susan Clark, Alex Karras
PLOT: Clark won an Emmy as Mildred "Babe" Didrikson Zaharias, generally considered the greatest female golfer. Clark later married co-star Karras, who played Babe's husband.
"Caddyshack" (1980)
RATING: Eagle
STARS: Chevy Chase, Rodney Dangerfield, Ted Knight, Bill Murray, Michael O'Keefe
PLOT: Earning tepid reviews in its time, director Harold Ramis' first feature - a raucous comedy about caddie O'Keefe showing up a bunch of country club swells - has become a cult classic.
"Caddyshack II" (1988)
RATING: Subpar
STARS: Jackie Mason, Robert Stack, Jessica Lundy, Dan Aykroyd
PLOT: The Bizarro World version of the above.
"Happy Gilmore" (1996)
RATING: Par
STARS: Adam Sandler, Christopher McDonald, Carl Weathers, Bob Barker
PLOT: In Sandler's second star vehicle, he's the titular lout who brings a hockey sensibility to the green.
"Tin Cup" (1996)
RATING: Subpar
STARS: Kevin Costner, Rene Russo, Don Johnson, Cheech Marin
PLOT: Filmmaker Ron Shelton and star Costner couldn't replicate their sports hit "Bull Durham" with this story of a pro-turned-caddie who tries to win Russo from smarmy golfer Johnson.
"The Legend of Bagger Vance" (2000)
RATING: Par
STARS: Will Smith, Matt Damon, Charlize Theron,
PLOT: A magical caddie (Smith) helps a traumatized World War I vet (Damon) get his swing back. Set in a shiny-clean Depression-era South with no racial problems.
"The Greatest Game Ever Played" (2005)
RATING: Par
STARS: Shia LaBeouf, Elias Koteas, Stephen Dillane, Josh Flitter
PLOT: Working-class Francis Ouimet (LaBeouf) breaks the class barrier to compete against Harry "The Stylist" Vardon (Dillane) in the 1913 U.S. Open. *