Bobby Jones: Stroke of Genius (2003)

25% of critics liked it
(75 reviews)
61% of users liked it
(3,266 ratings)

Based on the real-life story of golf legend Bobby Jones, Bobby Jones, Stroke of Genius features Jim Caviezel as the temperamental but highly talented amateur who threw a wrench in the golf world of the mid-'20s. Though Jones would eventually become the founder of the internationally renowned Augusta… More Based on the real-life story of golf legend Bobby Jones, Bobby Jones, Stroke of Genius features Jim Caviezel as the temperamental but highly talented amateur who threw a wrench in the golf world of the mid-'20s. Though Jones would eventually become the founder of the internationally renowned Augusta National Golf Club, which is father to the prestigious annual tournament known as The Masters, the combination of his ambition and tumultuous relationship with the media interfered with his personal life to such an extent that his future in the sport seemed doomed. With the help of his wife, Mary Malone Jones (Claire Forlani), the gifted, oftentimes tortured golfer was forced to balance his family life and the public scrutiny regarding his golf career, lest both of them dissolve entirely. Directed by Rowdy Herrington, the film also stars Jeremy Northam, Aidan Quinn, and Malcolm McDowell. ~ Tracie Cooper, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: PG, 2 hr. 8 min.
Directed By: Rowdy Herrington
Written By: Rowdy Herrington
Genres: Drama

In Theaters: Apr 30, 2004 Wide
On DVD: Nov 30, 2004
Studio: Film Foundry Releasing

Critic Reviews

Richard Roeper, Ebert & Roeper
[T]here's just not that much thrill in watching that little ball rolling toward the hole.
Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post
Delivers nothing more and nothing less than one would expect from a boilerplate sports biography, which is to say, the standard triumph against a litany of standard obstacles.
Desson Thomson, Washington Post
Even the staunchest of golfheads must know they're watching a cut-and-trite accounting, rather than a fanciful evocation.
Robert Denerstein, Denver Rocky Mountain News
For the most part, it's an act of big-screen worship. As drama, this one would have been better had it been a little more willing to go into the rough.
Peter Hartlaub, San Francisco Chronicle
Was Bobby Jones really this great a guy? Who knows? But after watching the greed that has consumed sports and the anti-heroes that have consumed modern films, finding someone to clap for is an OK way to pass the time.
Peter Travers, Rolling Stone
Jones deserved better than a biopic with a TV-movie heart.
Nell Minow, Common Sense Media
Bobby Jones deserves a better movie than this one.
Cole Smithey, ColeSmithey.com
In going after a "Seabiscuit" type of movie about the famous '30s amateur golfer Bobby Jones, the filmmakers chose a double epithet for a biopic that gets nowhere near that film's captivating sports story from the same era.
Mark Moring, Christianity Today
The film has its sappy, predictable moments, but the gorgeous cinematography, apt direction and fine acting more than compensate. Think of it like Chariots of Fire on the golf course.
Pablo Villaca, Cinema em Cena
Caviezel é claramente velho demais para o papel, o que já o tornaria uma escolha inadequada - mas, além disso, jamais convence ao retratar o temperamento explosivo de Jones.
Philip Martin, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
... plodding, special interest movie that feels more like a Golf Channel original production than a full-blown major motion picture.
James Plath, Movie Metropolis
Plenty of sheen, but not much substance.
Harry Haun, Film Journal International
Laborious and almost studiously old-fashioned biopic
Eric Henderson, City Pages, Minneapolis/St. Paul
The sort of film wherein Bobby can't win a tournament until he can control his temper.
Pete Croatto, Filmcritic.com
an infomercial that can't end soon enough.
Linda Cook, Quad City Times (Davenport, IA)
This would have gone straight to video had it not been for the box-office success of "The Passion of the Christ."
John A. Nesbit, Old School Reviews
Much like the many 'Jesus' movies, the film stays clear of controversy and plays it safe, making the casting of Jim Caviezel even more ironical.
Thomas Delapa, Boulder Weekly
...[so] reverential that star Jim Caviezel may as well be playing Jesus...Stroke of Genius strikes me as a labor of love; for most audiences, it will be just a labor.
MaryAnn Johanson, Flick Filosopher
Glowing, soft-focus, hagiographic, toothless...
Ken Hanke, Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)
It's Jesus Goes Golfing and by the halfway mark, I was hoping the caddies would rebel and give Jones a 20-minute scourging with a cat o' nine irons.