At 20 years of age, Francis Ouimet (Shia LaBeouf) has the chance of a lifetime before him. The son of a miner, the young man’s dreams of playing professional golf are considered foolish by everyone around him, the sport the purview of gentlemen and aristocrats not rabble-rousing commoners. But the 1913 U.S. Open is approaching and they have need for an amateur in competition and Francis fits that bill perfectly. Invited to participate and with so many eyes looking upon – and down at – him, the diminutive golfer is worried he might crack under all the pressure. Yet, this is the U.S. Open and a chance to pursue his dreams, nothing in the world going to stand between him and at least making a go of it.

British golfing legend Harry Vardon (Stephen Dillane) is approaching the end of his storied career and yet he’s still running from his past. The son of a dirt-poor farmer his skills with a seven-iron have brought him fame and fortune, but not respect. The same bourgeois landed gentry who kicked him out of his home to build a golf course still do not consider him their equal even though he’s a better golfer, a better man, than any of them could ever hope to be. Now Vardon has been asked by these very same gentlemen to represent England in the U.S. Open, to show the Americans they’re young country has nothing on Britain’s best. He’ll do it, but not for them, and not for that long-promised membership into their country club. No, Vardon will go but he’ll go for himself, looking to prove he’s still the greatest golfer in the world and that birth and class have nothing to do with talent where it comes to a golf club.

Vardon and Ouimet are on a collision course. Two common men only wanting to play the game they love, their match game sudden death final in the U.S. Open will take on an even larger significance then either man can fathom, inspiring people in all walks of life to heights they’d never thought possible. To many, it would become the greatest game of golf ever to be played, this match between amateur and professional, between a young David and an enigmatic Goliath, transcending sport to become something more. Legend.

The Disney sports drama “The Greatest Game Ever Played” isn’t quite as amazing as the true story it retells. That’s the bad news. The good news is that it is a mighty fine motion picture, continuing the studio’s hot streak of sports related dramas beginning with “Remember the Titans” and reaching near-perfection with “The Rookie” and “Miracle.” It is a moving portrait of another era where class and status where things born into and not achieved by hard work, chronicling two men who knew this was wrong knowing they were destined for more. It is a wonderful, crowd-pleasing melodrama full of cheers, tears and a handful of smiles, director Bill Paxton (a long way from the dark murderous mind games of “Frailty”) crafting a tale impossible to dislike.

Not that it’s perfect. There are some insanely silly visual moments where Paxton’s enthusiasm to try something a bit different gets the better of him, giving audiences a bird’s eye view of what it must feel like the be a golf ball flying through the air. These moments are absurd, too obviously digitally created and they made me slap my forehead in disbelief. Scenes like these are annoying, idiotic attempts to give golf a bit more flair, but never so much so they ruin the movie.

What almost does ruin the movie is the unbelievably unctuous battle of wills between Francis and his father Arthur (Elias Koteas). Mark Frost’s screenplay, adapted from his book of the same name, is rote and bland during these sequences, and no matter how soulful Koreas’ performance how hard Brian Tyler’s (quite splendid) score tries to pull the heartstrings it’s all too familiar to be even remotely effective.

Thankfully, that’s only an almost because the rest of “The Greatest Game Ever Played” works beautifully. The relationship between Ouimet and Vardon is handled with delicate symmetry, their dual storylines paralleling one another with splendiferous ease. This is where Frost’s script soars, the duality between the two golfers impossible to not relate in at least some small measure with. Better, Paxton makes golf exciting (even with the stupid golf shot POVs), the final match between the two tense and exciting every single step done the fairway.

Even though current Disney darling LaBeouf (so good in “Holes,” so bad in “I, Robot” and “Constantine”) is the star, it is Dillane who makes the most indelible impression. While his much younger costar is just fine in the lead (it’s his best performance so far), the veteran British character actor is so good as Vardon I can’t imagine another inhabiting the role so wonderfully. Dillane adds so many layers to his character, so many idiosyncratic quirks that the golfer comes to life the very first moment he takes the screen.

There is so much here that is wonderful, however, and it almost impossible to list them all. For me, two things standout immediately, the first being the imaginative ways Paxton and Frost visualize the methods Ouimet and Vardon use to block out distractions to focus on the hole in front of them. The second is the performance of young Josh Flitter. The first is a perfect realization of what it takes for an athlete (of any kind) to turn their attentions to the task at hand. The second is a pleasant shock bringing the movie to life time and time again with both heart and laughter. Both are fantastic, as is much of the rest of Paxton and Frost’s picture, helping “The Greatest Game Ever Played” become a winner in its own right.

Film Rating: êêê  (out of 4)