The Greatest Game Ever Played

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— Overview (multimedia)
— Overview Basic (dial up speed)
— Othrt Reviews
— Cast and Crew
— Photo Pages

Success isn’t permanent, and failure isn’t fatal. —Mike Ditka

Why is winning so important? I think it’s because we want to have hope that we can accomplish something with our lives. My personal theory is that we all have something we can excel at. Each of us has at least one talent, ability or calling that we were meant to fulfill. It’s inside you in the form of desire, ability, aptitude or attitude. Our job in life is to find it. Not all of us get to find it due to circumstances and so on, but it’s there nonetheless. God has given each of us a calling and a predisposition and talents. When someone finds what they are to do, it’s amazing. That’s my theory.

Many of the heroes of our age are winners in our favorite sport or game. We think of them as great because they excel at something we don’t, or did—or wish we did. Or maybe we just enjoy a particular sport and admire those who perform at their peak. But we love to see winners, in golf as in any sport.

I also believe we like to see people win because we all fail more than we win. Winning and losing is all about perspective. Winning in golf is only important if you are playing golf.

It appears that in order to win in sport one must sacrifice almost every other aspect of life. I’m not sure things should be that way. I think if we were to sacrifice ourselves to God, we would more than fulfill our desires. We would fulfill others around us and have fuller lives. Where is it said that surrendering to God makes us unsuitable in this world? Or how do we know that a football star would be called to foreign missions instead of football? What makes us think that surrendering to God cancels the calling to perform according to our abilities? Do we think we have to choose something we don't like to do to serve God as a sacrifice? Hello the sacrifice has already been made! You live the way God made you and see what happens!

This is where The Greatest Game ever Played comes in. It’s a movie about golf, golfers, winners and losers. It’s also about perspective. And about a gift that God gives.

Francis Ouimet is an amateur golfer, actually a caddy, in an era when “amateur� meant “lower class,� “less privileged� and therefore unqualified to play with the pros. Still, any one of the qualifiers for the U.S. Open golf tournament is a winner. They just can’t all be THE winner. Just like we can’t all have beachfront property.

But all of them have to be what British golf legend Harry Vardon calls the first of two types of players: one who concentrates and keeps his head in the game and wins championships (the second type, he says, are those who don’t). But this movie studies class, both as a position and as a character trait, tenacity, concentration and the fear of failure.

This is a terrific movie from the perspective of the golfer. The special effects make realistic what could only be considered boring for the observer. Golf is boring to watch but is enjoyable to play. As a player you must be able to erase your surroundings and look only at the ball and its intended target.

Golf is a social equalizer, due in large part to Francis Ouimet. That’s the real history. This film moved me because Ouimet broke down societal walls and pretense—yet never continued beyond the amateur status he conquered with. He intentionally fulfilled the wishes of his dad. But he fulfilled the larger wish of his heavenly father by pursuing his calling.