Missed opportunity to make an interesting adaptation of a moderately interesting book. The first third of the book about the round of golf Murphy plays with Irons is the only good part of the book. In the book, Irons instruction on the mental side of the game and it's parallels to reality are worth pondering. That part of the story is given only perfunctory attention here. The rest of the book is devoted to Murphy's vague ruminations on his confused notions of the confluence of science and philosophy. The movie only superficially resembles the book. For starters, Bandon Dunes, Oregon is not Scotland. So when Irons character in the movie talks of learning the lessons of the game "where it was invented" the grounding of the film runs aground. Playing the game in Scotland is an authentic pilgrimage for golfers. The harshness of the North Sea weather conditions can affect anyone playing the game in Scotland on a links course next to the sea in ways that make the game incredibly difficult beyond the mere hitting of the ball. Hence, the line by Shivas Irons in the book, which is something of a mantra to Scottish golfers, if there's no wind and no rain there's no golf, is lost by staging the film in good weather in America. In other words, playing a round of the game on a sunny windless day teaches none of the real lessons of the game or yourself. What Irons lessons are really about are that golf reveals your inner self to you by showing you how you handle tough conditions while hitting a ball with a stick and trying to drop it into a hole in the ground. That way to self revelation is given short shrift in the movie. Put another way, the story is about what you learn about yourself while playing golf, not about the game of golf per se. Technically, an opportunity to use the mystical aspects of the southern Oregon coast is missed by masking daylight with effects to look like sunset. The true mystic qualities of the southern Oregon coast are best seen at dawn, or in heavy overcast and/or fog without effects masking reality. The movie actually turns Irons insights upside down by the use of phony effects lighting. The staging in the movie missed the qualities of the southern Oregon coast that really resemble Scotland. Classic Scottish links courses have no trees anywhere near the course. The setting, and its depiction, used here did not conjure up the mystic qualities of a Scottish links course (or the southern Oregon coast), which could have transformed this film. That could have been done by filming at dawn and in unmasked, imperfect weather conditions. Still, I gave it a five rating because it has Malcolm McDowell, Frances Fisher, Julian Sands, Joanna Whalley and David O'Hara, all of whom are worth watching whatever they do. The Shivas Irons part of the book deserves a filming that scores an eagle. Here, the script, the staging and unnatural lighting add up to a three putt bogey of a missed opportunity.
