Like many amateur golfers, I am interested in learning more of the early history of our game. That's the primary reason why I rented this film.What better place to start than with this film. Hollywood did a fine job telling the story of one of golf's memorable amateur players: Bob Jones. And for sure many of us are also well acquainted with the Jones' legend: the only man to have captured golf's 'Grand Slam'.Way back in the Thirties, Bobby Jones won the U.S. and British amateur titles as well as their senior counterparts: The U.S. Open and the U.K.'s 'Open Championship'. Accomplishing all that is no small feat either. Bobby did that in a single calendar year.And almost immediately after he had climbed golf's pinnacle, Jones announced his retirement from tournament golf. He was 28 at the time.Some notable pros of his era, fellow American Walter Hagen and Scottish legend Harry Vardon both thought highly of the smallish man from Atlanta Georgia. They too both saw the making of golf legend, many times.Some matches they won. In others where they lost to Jones' magical shot making, even finishing runner-up was considered an honor. However, winning was not that easy for the mercurial first ever golf 'super-star'.The film devotes much time to exposing his mystery ailment: stomach troubles. The cure though was less than conventional. Bobby took a little whiskey from time to time. So, the film's producers claim.Early in his career the film also mentioned another health issue: Bob suffered from varicose veins. He was 'much too young for that', his father decried.Aside from the heavy exposure devoted to a young Jones' temper, the film cast a bright light even halo over Bobby Jones. That brilliance presided over both the golfer and the man. What I didn't like was the many close-up shots of Jones' helicoptering golf clubs after an errant shot. We get it: club throwing is not flattering behavior for a gentleman's game.There's no doubt that Bobby Jones was that. He was in fact a Southerner. And Southerners that I've met have always exhibited gentlemanly traits, both behaviorally and in their speech.The last line here belongs to one of the film's producers. One expressed his sentiments (paraphrased) this way."Golf is a backdrop. The real story is about an extraordinary man. Moreover, Bobby Jones left his indelible mark on both the golf world and all those who knew him."Nothing needs to be added there; I agree, wholly. Bobby Jones both the golf legend and as a fellow citizen are stories of renown. This film captured both the highs and lows of Jones' life on and off the course in a sensitive yet respectful manner. For their efforts I doff my cap to the producers, directors, crew and actors. And Jim Caviezel's reprisal of the golf legend did Jones proud.

There is a difficult paradox that the seeing of this film provides for and that is that there is need for at least another showing or viewing and perhaps even more.Why more than once?I don't know absolutely however the film I felt in its attempt to place the life of this true gentlemen in Bobby Jones was not able to be the communicator Bobby Jones was and even more so the real man was in fact quite a hero both on the Links and otherwise.It is not such a simple task to allow for a value that superseeds a bottom line idealogical premise and as it is not so simple it is as well not that way at all anyway.The truth is that there is no justice in this film that is worth the life and times of Bobby Jones and though there is an attempt to sell this film as the life of Bobby Jones,it seems to me more like a passing motorcade in which an opportunity presented itself and indeed it is in the name of an opportunity that this film was entered into.There is a quality of the timeless and the everlasting that that degree of man represent and indeed the Grand Father was aghast at the playing of Golf on the sabbath.Part of the failure of this film was the films pretense to eclipsing time as it tried to tell the story of Robert Jones.It is much more of a task to know better than to be made fools of when all we as viewers do is say ooh and ahh.This film much to my surprise is something of a failure with an emphasis on the inability to know the world in which we live in and to know the very life and man in which this film entered into when it was decided to make a story called Bobby Jones-A Stroke of Pure Genius.There is a lack of imagination that from time to time render the film something of a Hollywood wannabe rather than the real thing.It is this lack of imagination that provides for the story telling ability and it is this lack of imagination that earmark this film as an opportunity that tried to time it right.It might be further argued that the money men who bank rolled this endeavour were looking to cash in on the time is right.This is that weak and it is as well not entirely without merit so compelling is the story of Bobby Jones that even a weak willed deal like this still is in fact interesting.Bobby Jones is that much the man that even a Hollywood hatchet job could not deny Bobby Jones his place as one of Golfing greatest players though his life story is made thread bare in the movie.Bobby Jones deserves better though I may very well find myself watching this DVD another day with emphasis on another day it is not unlikable and perhaps however mediocre it may very well be worth watching again.

OK....I am not a golfer and don't care about golf.. I wasn't going to watch the movie based solely on this, but it was just on TV, and I thought I would just watch a few minutes and see if it would be worth watching. It was!! It is a great movie even if you know nothing about golf and don't care about learning anything about golf. It is a wonderfully done movie with great historical information and a great group of actors and actresses who make the entire movie pleasurable. It follows the life on a golfing legend Bobby Jones, who started playing golf as a child and continued playing amateur golf and is the only person to win the Grand Slam of golf (ok, so maybe I don't remember what the name for the big thing he won, but it was 4 big golf championships). The movie is well worth the time to watch whether you love golf or know nothing about the game.

Golfers will love this film about one of the greatest golfers of all time. I say one of the greatest because it is hard to say that any one golfer was the greatest given the changing conditions, the degree if competition, and the changes in equipment. While Jones undoubtedly was the best of his generation, arguments can be made that Ben Hogan and Jack Nicklaus were the greatest of their generations and that Tiger Woods is the greatest of the present generation.From a historical standpoint, this movie is very accurate and a great deal of attention was paid to every detail. As to authenticity of the sets and costumes this movie is the best I have seen in years. All too often movies take shortcuts which infringe on their authenticity. Even the uniforms worn by the Marines in this picture are authentic replicas of the uniforms worn by Marines in the early '30s down to the ribbons.The film does have some shortcomings though. Ihe acting is not that great and the story gets a little hammy at times but the reality still shows through. Much too much is made of the reporter from the Atlanta Journal who is used as a foil. While the Journal did follow Jones closely, it wasn't nearly as close as depicted in the film. But the story brings out the humanness of Jones quite well, better than does the usually told legends.