"The Legend of Bagger Vance"

We've slowed down on Netflix films during football season, but still have one ready all the time. Last week it was "The Legend of Bagger Vance," an old movie with Will Smith and Matt Damon, directed by Robert Redford.

It's a silly movie really, but the characters win your heart. It's about a small town golfer with a promising future who enlists for World War I. His entire unit is killed, leaving him alone on the battlefield bereft and lost. He just disappears for several years after that, but finally returns home. The girlfriend he had left behind is unmarried yet but they can't get together, too much hurt on both sides.

A great country club and golf course owned by the girlfriend is going bankrupt, so an idea is born to save it. Have a golf tournament with Bobby Jones and I forget the second famous golfer, as well as a local guy to bring local crowds. A wonderful young boy sets out to convince drunkard Capt. Junuh (Matt Damon) to play. Suddenly, out of the misty twilight, appears Bagger Vance (Will Smith), a caddy who can save Junuh and bring back his golf game.

Well, everyone knows how this will turn out of course, but that doesn't ruin the movie at all. Matt Damon's engaging smile and his manner are perfect (although he isn't so convincing as a drunk), and Will Smith is terrific in this part. Sorry I don't remember the boy's name offhand because he's so good as an innocent symbol of hope and goodness.

I think although it's set in summer, this is a good holiday movie because of it's message. It's fun for anytime.

Finally Saw "Invictus" - Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon

Ever since we got Netflix I've been catching up on movies I wanted to see in the theater but missed. This week it was "Invictus." I figured anything with Morgan Freeman in it had to be good, and I think Matt Damon is an underrated actor too.

We liked this movie but it didn't have quite the thrill I expected. Have to say Morgan Freeman took on an impossible task playing Nelson Mandela. How in the world do you portray a man who is admired in most of the world, a man who has achieved fame that very few leaders do. His charisma, his charm, his genuine determination to make South Africa into a rainbow nation all combine to make him a person no one could hope to portray really well. Freeman had his posture, his mannerisms, and his firmness with those who only sought revenge down pat, but the charm and charisma just weren't there.

The poem that inspired him, "Invictus," is the one that ends:

"It matters not how strait the gate
How charged with punishment the scroll,
I am the master of my fate,
I am the captain of my soul."

Most critics hate it but who can argue with the inspiration it gave Nelson Mandela to survive the long years of imprisonment without coming out full of plans for revenge.

For once Matt Damon's good looks were appropriate for his role as the captain of South Africa's rugby team. I expected his leadership after meeting Mandela to be sort of "pow" but it was more subtle and therefore more realistic. I liked very much the scene where he took the team to Robin Island to see where Mandela had been imprisoned. What was "pow" was his build. He obviously hit the gym a lot preparing for the role.

As for Netflix, we weren't affected by the recent price hike at all. We chose the plan where we get one DVD at a time in the mail. We aren't interested in immediate streaming of the movie on our television set. Our monthly fee remained exactly the same and we are just as happy as we were before the mess that made so many people unsubscribe.