Tin Cup

Sex and golf are the two things you can enjoy even if you're not good at them. Directed by Ron Shelton and starring Kevin Costner, Rene Russo and Don Johnson, Tin Cup is the golf rom-com sports movie that even none golf fans (me) can enjoy. Costner is a washed up ex pro golfer who upon happening upon Russo's - eager to please her golfer boyfriend (Johnson) - psychiatrist, finds a new lease of life for the sport and for potential romance. But first he has to deal with the cocky nemesis that is Johnson's star laden showy golfer. The sports based movie is a tough nut to crack, the margins for narrative worth are thin, there's only so much one can take such a genre to. Here we have one of the staples of said genre, that of a washed up sportsman getting a second shot at glory. It really should have been a bore to rival that of the sport in reality (sorry golfers, I just don't get it), yet Shelton, backed by superb lead actors, creates a thoroughly charming, exciting and thoughtful sports rom-com. The characterisations are white hot, people you can easily root for, or in the case of Johnson's David Simms, boo and hiss at. It is testament to the director and writers (Shelton and John Norville) that these characters manage to rise above stereotype status, and crucially they are given sharp dialogue to spout. The sport of golf isn't the crux of the matter here, it really is the characters and how they adapt to the changing of basic human emotions that drives this pic forward. Some famous golfers of the time make appearances, rewardingly so, while the always ace Cheech Marin gets a part he can nail with aplomb. You haven't got to love golf or sports movies in general for this one, it really is just a crowd pleasing delight. 8/10

How do you make a movie about golf fun? You write it like a movie about baseball. Costner is like the ultimate sports movie star isn't he? Field of Dreams, Bull Durham, For the Love of the Game, that football one I didn't see... and this. It's hysterical, it's written almost as if the people involved wanted to do a story about a batter with the yips, and instead decided to make just a little more original and do the story about golf instead. Either way it's watchable with a lead cast and a supporting cast that pull off dead pan hysterical very well.