The Greatest Game Ever Played doesn’t really fit the KidsFlix criteria (we try for offbeat, classic, foreign, etc.), but somehow this got to the top our NetFlix list when we weren’t looking.
K snorted and said, “Oh, it’s Disney. It’s probably really dumb.” For those of you who are newcomers here, K is 12 now, and of course at this age it gets more challenging to get him to sit through movies that he doesn’t choose himself. Although, to be clear, he’ll often choose something like Ratatouille, just as often as he might choose something like Inkheart. (Husband D and I are just grateful that K still loves to watch ‘50s and ‘60s sci fi flicks with us! He’s become quite the aficionado.)
This film is based on the true story of a young caddie in the early 1900s, growing up under the critical eye of a struggling immigrant father and hardworking mother, whose own golfing talents land him in the U.S. Open. The story is one of overcoming odds, of believing in ones’ self, of the ugliness of classism and stereotyping ... there are a number of discussion-worthy issues trotted out here. But the film itself is beautifully made, it’s rich to both the eye and the soul, and here’s the key thing: our scoffing son soon succumbed to the film’s charms and he thoroughly enjoyed it. It has a mature feeling about it, like it’s something kids can really sink their teeth into, and they can feel that in the first ten minutes.
I learned something, too: apparently Shia LaBeof is not all that cool with the male tweener set. I believe K referred to him as “Shia LeDoof “ (um, would that be spelled LeDuf, if it were short for “dufus?”). We managed to avoid the most recent Transformers movie -- K seemed pretty disinterested, which was a blessing considering the awful reviews I read and the surprising and annoying level of sexual humor in the first one, which was off-putting, to say the least -- and K hasn’t seen a whole of LeBeof in action. So I gather this is a general vibe from the tweener pack at the moment.
Maybe they’re old enough that they’re jealous of the guy getting next to Megan Fox. Is that possible?
Posts
