Stealth Entertainment
By Scott Lumley
August 21, 2008
The problem here is that Roy really only has one skill, which is golf, and he has all the self control of Andy Dick around a teenage girl. His attempts are disastrous at best. To top it all off, Roy has a pack of slacker friends who continually applaud his every attempt at self destruction.
This is actually a fairly long movie with next to no violence at all. There are a couple of cross words here and there, but this movie gets by on well-scripted dialogue and some witty repartee. The highlight sport of the whole film is obviously golf, so this really is the exact opposite of an event film. And yet, as you watch it, it doesn't feel long at all.
The writers of this script did a particularly fine job with Roy and Romeo, two golf buddies who have been around each other so long they are practically married. Romeo knows all about Roy and has witnessed him self destruct in every painful way you can imagine. He shows that deftly, too. It's one thing to make bong jokes, but it's another to be furious with your best friend as they walk off the same cliff they have already fallen off 14 times. Romeo deftly shows that suppressed agony quite well, and Marin just impresses me to no end in this movie.
I also have to take note of Don Johnson's role in this movie as seasoned professional golfer David Simms. Johnson owns his role so completely that I don't see how they could have put anyone else into his slot. He's smooth as silk, polished as a diamond and a complete prick at the same time. In one scene he takes a prop bet with Roy and completely takes him to school. He doesn't stop to belittle Roy, he just smirks and wanders off with his prize. His sly smile is really all the browbeating he needs to do in that shot, and even knowing he's the "bad guy" in the film, you can't help but applaud him just a bit for that scene.
If there's anyone in this movie who was replaceable, it was Rene Russo. She wasn't bad at all, but the character called for a smart, sexy woman and that was the standard role for Russo ten years ago. She doesn't really add anything to the film, though, and her reactions at the end of the movie almost seemed to detract from it. It's disappointing, because the movie does suffer a bit for her somewhat all over the place performance.
Still, Tin Cup is a solid film. The characters are well formed and written and the dialogue flows seamlessly. Roy isn't rewarded with a fairy tale ending but he is rewarded for his attempts to improve himself. More than anything, that felt right. This whole movie feels right, actually. It's a fine, entertaining film and it's aging like a bottle of good wine. Go ahead and enjoy it.
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