Starring Mark Rylance, Sally Hawkins, Rhys Ifans, Jake Davies, Christian Lees, Jonah Lees, Mark Lewis Jones and Johann Myers. Written by Simon Farnaby, and directed by Craig Roberts.
This is a light-hearted, gently-paced, feel-good bio-pic of Maurice Flitcroft a shipyard crane operator from Barrow-on-furness who earned himself the title of 'the world's worst golfer' thanks to his score of 121, 49-over-par, achieved when he blagged his way onto The Open Championship golf tournament in 1974.
The plot sees Maurice Flitcroft (Mark Rylance) deciding to take up golf at the age of 49, when redundancy looms its ugly head, despite never having picked up a golf club in his life. Initially aided by his best friend, his twin disco-obsessed sons, and his long suffering, but deeply loving wife, Jean (Sally Hawkins), Maurice lies on his application form and finds himself the unlikely underdog on the golf course when his ineptitude earns him the adulation of the public. Less so the golfing governing committee, lead by Lambert (Rhys Ifans) who bans him, forcing Flitcroft to adopt a variety of disguises to continue entering competitions.
The film follows the well-worn structure of these sorts of film, offering nothing new or ground-breaking. It follows our plucky hero's rise to the bottom, followed by a spot of family drama - mostly through the introduction of a fictitious third son to give the film some dramatic bite - followed by his slow decline until his unlikely, third act resurrection. It suffers from a soft underbelly and offers no serious drama or upset. The film also suffers from some jarring CGI and the overuse of a Van Gogh inspired painting as a visual cue, which is unnecessary and jarring. And as mentioned, the introduction of a third son, in the guise of his adopted step-son offers the only drama of the film, but its false, generic one-note quality brings nothing to the table.
This is the second 21st Century Ealing Comedy of the year. It doesn't outstay its welcome and it's enjoyable, gentle and humorous, and you'll definitely smile along with it, perhaps even chortle, and even laugh, but it won't stay with you and sadly it didn't inspire me or lift me, like Eddie the Eagle did, which is a shame because with a cast this good it should have soared.
7/10
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