Chip and cheerful
MARK RYLANCE PUTTS IN A MEMORABLE PERFORMANCE IN THIS UNDERDOG SPORTING STORY
THE big screen has a rich tradition of sporting underdogs who secure hard-fought personal victories against the odds in a boxing ring (Rocky, Million Dollar Baby), ice hockey rink (The Mighty Ducks), baseball park (Moneyball) or on the high-velocity banked turns of a bobsleigh track (Cool Runnings).
Golf has teed up its fair share of unlikely champions including Caddyshack, Happy Gilmore and The Greatest Game Ever Played.
Director Craig Roberts’ lifeaffirming and warmly sentimental comedy drama, adapted by Bafta winner Simon Farnaby from a book he co-wrote with Scott Murray, comfortably achieves par in such crowd-pleasing company.
The Phantom Of The Open lovingly dramatises the true story of a crane operator from Barrow-inFurness who entered the 1976 British Open without any previous experience on a golf green.
Forty-six-year-old shipyard worker Maurice Flitcroft (Mark Rylance) is facing redundancy after years of dedicated toil to provide for his wife Jean (Sally Hawkins) and three sons.
Eldest boy Mike (Jake Davies) has corporate career goals and twins Gene (Christian Lees) and James (Jonah Lees) nurture dreams of becoming discodancing world champions but Maurice needs a fanciful pursuit to spark him back to life.
That spiritual awakening arrives during televised coverage of the 104th Open Championship at Carnoustie where Tom Watson beats Jack Newton by one shot after a tense 18-hole playoff.
“I’m going to take a crack at the British Open,” Maurice casually proclaims.
The complete novice earns his place at Royal Birkdale in 1976 by falsely claiming to be a professional golfer on the entry form.
Maurice practices with borrowed clubs ahead of a first appearance in front of officious club secretary Keith Mackenzie (Rhys Ifans) and underling John Pegg (Tim Steed).
While 19-year-old Spaniard Seve Ballesteros (Marc Bosch) cards an impressive three under par to share the lead, Maurice achieves a record-breaking 121... over par.
The Phantom Of The Open is an unabashed love letter to eccentrics and dreamers, following Flitcroft’s journey through subsequent tournaments, which he entered under amusing aliases including Arnold Palmtree.
Rylance imbues his portrayal of Flitcroft with a twinkly-eyed innocence and unpolished charm, wrong-footing pompous golfing club authoritarians with old-fashioned pluck, determination and the unerring support of his family.
The script confidently sinks earthy one-liners as an unlikely folk hero cheerfully holds firm to his personal mantra (“Practice is the road to perfection”) in the face of ridicule.
Director Roberts is heavyhanded with the schmaltz down the back nine but a couple of dropped shots don’t hurt his film’s chances of winning our hearts.
In cinemas now