Tin Cup

If your an average Joe club golfer this movies for you!! I just watched it for the umpteenth time and enjoyed as much as I did the first time. I'm a movie buff but a golf nut too and I rarely watch a movie twice let alone multiple times. However, I'm an avid golfer and have been over 30 yrs since college. And this flick really 'gets' the average duffer and shows so many scenes that we've all experienced or watched at our local clubs. Obnoxious rich guys that can't golf a lick...betting the local ace who never loses a bet, the camaraderie club golfers have, betting on anything and everything, the drinking, the competition and the celebration of great shots... it brings back memories of everybody who's played club golf for many years and the comedy of it all is familiar and lots of fun. It's not an academy award winner but a fun movie with lots of laughs for those of us who've spent many years, weekends and playing hooky from work to play this crazy game. Comical for those who've never played, but much more so for the avid golfer who's a 1 handicap or a 25. And the romance of the main character and his therapist was very cute as well. It's a timeless movie. Golf doesn't change much, only those who play it. Even though it's 25 yrs old at time I write this, if you love golf, it's players and all the shenanigans in between the 1st and 19th hole, you'll find this a treat. Watch it again old farts or for first time young golfers... it's a good 'guys night out flick' and a hoot with a few friends, beers and shots to go with it.

If somebody watches Tin Cup and does not find this movie a "must-see", it might be either because you don't know golf, or because you take life too easy. This film is nothing but irresistible. It combines those tiny-little-moments that we golfers must face every time we are in the golf course (yes, we may not be facing the US Open title, but golf gives us a chance to know ourselves every time we hit the ball: Do I play safe or do I take chances? Am I a winner, or am I a loser? Do I have nerves, or do I simply breakdown?). Tin Cup goes insight all of that, and it shows it to us, in such a simple form through the eyes and life of Roy McAvoy and his buddies, that at the end you find yourself with nothing but the urge to rent it again. Forget for a while about the romance and the girl, if so you want, but don't deny that the songs, the views, and the dialogue are superb. See it as a great sport movie, with a clear lesson to all of us: In life as in Golf, it is you who make that final call. A good call means success; a bad one, well I guess you know where the rest goes.

You have seen Kevin Costner in this type of role before, like Swing Vote or Field of Dreams. Yet he always seems to do it so well. He makes golf seem exciting and brings a good character to it, and plays for a rival's woman in the process. The story and golf scenes are good, and I liked watching Costner in them. It has a good supporting cast too. You can't go wrong with Costner!

** 1/2 out of ****

First of all, this is a golf film. A great golf film. The best golf film. But there is more to it than just being a golf film. It´s the classic tale of a washed-up hero wanting to get the girl. But Kevin Costner gives this role something more. Okay, it´s not an oscar-winning role, but the performance sure as heck should be.

And it´s nice to see a golf film with a screenwriter who actually seems to know what the game really is about. For those who are not into golf, just look at Mr. Costner´s every move and how he delivers his lines as a drunken golf pro. In fact the whole cast is excellent. In comparison to films like Bagger Vance, Happy Gilmore and Caddyshack this film is the only one that explains why we men are so hooked on this game. If you see this movie more than five times, the music might start to get on your nerves. But it´s okay, it´s impossible to add music to a golf film, because the sport itself is so timeless and silent.

While it may never be as famous as its forerunner Bull Durham (which also starred Costner and was also written and directed by Shelton) Tin Cup has legs of its own to stand on. With a brilliant soundtrack, excellent support from Russo, Johnson, Marin and others (including two Costners) and the writing and direction of Ron Shelton, this is a winner - an incredibly funny and gripping comedy with a smashing bit of irresistible bravado thrown in for good measure. Where Bull Durham didn't have a climax per se, Tin Cup does - and what a climax that is. And although you may in retrospect see the outcome as predictable, odds are you won't guess this by a mile working into it the first time: the suspense really works too.

For what it's worth, the riddle the movie starts on has been traced as far back as The Cosby Show.

A definite keeper.