“The Legend of Bagger Vance” is a story about overcoming adversity, living life in the present and surviving without the support of others.

Directed by Robert Redford, the movie revolves around a local golf tournament, but it is by no means only about golf. The tournament and golf itself are merely a backdrop for the hardships faced by Rannulph Junuh, played by Matt Damon.

The story takes place from 1916 to 1931 in Savannah, Ga. Junuh is the best, young golfer in the South, winning every amateur tournament possible.

Junuh is forced to drop everything and go fight the war, where he ends up losing all his friends and fellow soldiers in his company. Not able to handle their deaths or his status as a hero back in the States, Junuh disappears.

Back in Savannah, Junuh’s love, Adele Invergordon (Charlize Theron), is dealing with the Depression-related suicide of her wealthy father who just put all his money into building the best golf course in the South.

Pressured by her town to sell the land to builders, Adele promises to put on the best exhibition golf match to date, and she invites big-wig golfers of the time, Walter Hagen and Bobby Jones. She hopes to raise enough money to pay her bills.

The only way the town will let the golf match happen is if a local person plays in it as well.

By this time, Junuh has quietly come back to town. Though he drowns himself in alcohol and depression, he becomes the town’s choice for the match.

Junuh refuses to play, saying he lost his swing and doesn’t want anything to do with golf.

Still with a negative attitude, Junuh pulls his clubs out one night and starts hitting balls when a figure emerges from the darkness — Bagger Vance (Will Smith) — a golf caddy that will help Junuh find his swing.

Junuh finally accepts the golfing invitation and the match begins.

But Junuh’s golf is horrible, he falls way behind the other two golfers after the first round. His demons from the past are overpowering his will to clear his mind and concentrate on golf.

Between rounds, Junuh slowly begins to conquer his issues with Adele and with death and begins accepting the fact that the town is behind him and will respect him if he respects himself.

The biggest surprise from “The Legend of Bagger Vance” is Smith, proving that his role diversity is bigger than just doing action films. His portrayal of Bagger, a mysterious, Southern gentleman who seems to know everything, is quite different from anything he has done in the past, but he does it with amazing believability.

Damon and Theron also live up to their hefty resumes, adding certain traits to their characters to make them their own. Though neither of them shine quite as bright as Smith, you couldn’t ask for a better cast of actors for this film.

Another surprise performance comes from newcomer J. Michael Moncrief, a little boy in the film who stays by Junuh’s side when the town begins to betray him.

Director Robert Redford’s overlapping of story-lines is genius. Each story connects and relates to golf and keeps a steady theme running through it. Moncrief’s character is ashamed of his father for having a street-sweeping job, much like Junuh is ashamed of himself for not living up to the expectations of the town. The two are able to deal with their insecurities together through their love for the game of golf.

Redford does a pretty good job of portraying the time period with great detail, only a few little things like the quality of grass on the golf course may catch the attention of historians or golfers in the audience. But overall, the setting was believable and a nice compliment to the acting.

“The Legend of Bagger Vance” isn’t the most exciting film ever, but it is a great taste of acting — some of the best of the year — and its story hits a little deeper than just cool special effects and funny lines.

Even those who hate golf should like this movie.