Makers of explicitly Christian films often have a difficult time presenting spiritual conversions and religious themes without making the whole film a mere coat rack on which to hang those subjects, but Russell has the inverse problem - though the Christian plotpoints are hardly subtle (film opens by quoting Isaiah 30:21), the protagonist’s relationship with God falls roughly on the level of his relationship with the local girl: a chemistry-free subplot that often feels shoehorned in. In fact, the laid-back sense of small-town warmth and strength of the supporting cast (which includes Melissa Leo and Kathy Baker) make the film much more watchable than it otherwise would be.Ĭrawford’s lessons are Miyagi-like in their ostensible lack of connection to golf (i.e., painting, airplane-flying, fly-fishing), but they put the wayward linksman back on track, as well as providing a nice bedrock for the old sage to plant a Bible upon his pupil. Pic was actually shot in the scenic Texan burg, which the film portrays as something out of a Merle Haggard song - a nice little place for squares to have a ball. Afterward, Crawford proposes that Chisholm stick around for seven days, promising to improve his golf game. Crawford introduces him around town, and he forges an instant connection with moony waitress Sarah (Deborah Ann Woll), as well as an instant, mutual hostility toward an aspiring rodeo star ( Brian Geraghty, channeling the same mixture of loud-mouthed machismo and insecurity that he brought to “The Hurt Locker”). With his car totaled, Chisholm is forced to shack up in Utopia for the night. 375), he is forced off the road by a stray cow, crashing through the fence of a ranch but quickly attended to by owner Johnny Crawford (Duvall, entering on horseback). Furious and speeding aimlessly through the tiny town of Utopia, Texas (pop. The film opens with Chisholm in a state of existential and Oedipal anguish, having just blown a lead in a golf tournament by melting down on the final hole, causing his caddie/domineering father (Joseph Lyle-Taylor) to walk away in disgust. This is a problem, as the pic requires Chisholm to portray intense inner struggle. Lucas Black plays burgeoning pro-golfer Luke Chisholm, and while his golf swing looks great, and he’s perfect at projecting the uncomplicated external bonhomie of so many rural Southern residents, he fails to convey much character beneath it.
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