In the charming true-story comedy PHANTOM OF THE OPEN, Mark Rylance plays the worst golfer in British Open history, Maurice Flitcroft, a middle-aged working class bloke who accidentally got into the storied competition, and then became a folk hero for trying to do it again and again, haunting the tournament. Mark Rylance (BRIDGE OF SPIES) and Sally Hawkins (THE SHAPE OF WATER), as Flitcroft’s supportive wife Jean, are both absolute charmers in this very funny yet uplifting British comedy about a very British eccentric who believed anything was possible. Although Flitcroft’s performance in the British Open earned him the moniker “worst golfer in the world,” it actually was the first round of golf Flitcroft had ever played, having just taken up the sport after being laid off from his job as a crane operator, another amazing aspect of this unlikely true story.
No need for an interest in golf to be tickled by this hilarious yet warm stranger-than-fiction tale, but it does help if you are charmed by British eccentrics like the irrepressible Flitcroft. PHANTOM OF THE OPEN features a pair of outstanding British actors who bring the quirky personalities in this unlikely true story to life. Like THE DUKE, another true-story tale about an eccentric Brit that stars a pair of great British actors, Jim Broadbent and Helen Mirren, much of PHANTOM OF THE OPEN’s success rests those great actors leading it. Rylance and Hawkins are indeed marvelous in this appealing comedy, with Mark Rylance’s sweet, unassuming but determined Maurice Flitcroft and Sally Hawkins’ equally optimistic, supportive wife Jean making a very winning pair. The hilarious film succeeds comedically but the story is as inspiring and warm as it is funny, an uplifting, heart-warming story, about the Little Man battling class bias and daring to chase his impossible dreams, no matter the odds.
Underdog comedies like this tend to follow some familiar paths but director Craig Roberts interjects freshness and fun, as well as visual delight, with several comical, charming dream-like fantasy sequences, daydreams where the moon in the night sky becomes a giant golf ball or a smiling Flitcroft is propelled into space by a giant golf club. The fantasy flights are sprinkled throughout the film, adding spikes of color (besides Flitcroft’s comically loud golf attire) and a little magic.
Before playing in the British Open, Flitcroft (Rylance) had only ever practiced his golf strokes on the beach and in makeshift set-ups. Maurice Flitcroft had grown up in a working class family in northern England where everyone was expected to go to work in the mines. Being a pro golfer was not something working class boys aspired to do. But WWII sent the boy off to a country estate, like so many other city children, for his safety from wartime bombings. There the young Maurice was asked a question no one had ever asked him before: what do you want to be when you grow up? The question changed the way Flitcroft saw the world, making him someone who believed in dreaming big, no matter who you are.
Life and love intervened, when he fell for Jean (Sally Hawkins), a secretary and part-time theater director. The likable, easy-going Flitcroft’s dreams now shifted to encouraging his stepson and his twin boys to dream big, while he took work in the mining industry, becoming a crane operator. The twins, Gene (Christian Lees) and James (Jonah Lees), take an unconventional path but grown stepson Michael (Jake Davies) finds success in the business side of mining. When the middle-aged Maurice is laid off from his job, his wife encourages him to finally follow his own dreams. A chance viewing of the British Open on TV sparks the idea that he could become a pro golfer – even though he’s never played the game.
There is something too crazy to be true in this idea but the fact that there really was a Maurice Flitcroft is part of why this film is both so funny and so appealing. Maurice’s practice sessions encourage his belief in himself but he needs access to a golf course. Turned down for membership in the local country club, the plucky Brit enters the 1976 British Open, partly as a way to access a golf course. He doesn’t quite get the significance of his decision.
That Flitcroft gets in is both a mistake and a fluke. Rhys Ifans plays a British Open official, Keith Mackenzie, who is appalled by Flitcrof’ts appallingly-bad performance on the links, becomes determined to keep him out of future tournaments. At home, his stepson James is appalled and embarrassed by his dad’s sudden “fame,” while the rest of the family can’t see a problem.
A kind of cat-and-mouse face-off develops between Rhys Ifans’ gatekeeper official Mackenzie and Rylance’s unstoppable Flitcroft, who tries various ways to sneak back into the British Open, often with the aid of a pal with a shady past. It makes for laugh-out-loud comedy, and director Roberts and the cast make the most of that in some classic-comedy bits. But the director’s imaginative fantasy sequences add a contemporary feel and a touch of magic and magical realism.
Mark Rylance plays this odd character with considerable sweetness and appeal, a man whose determination just can’t be undermined by the facts. Themes about class and snobbery in golf run through this film, as well as a Don Quixote thread, both of which the director and cast handle with a perfect touch which brings out both the humor and a spirit of human hopefulness. In Flitcroft’s world, dreams conquer all, as he repeats little inspirational mantras to himself. His limitless optimism sparks some loopy, creative stunts and wins him admiration from others, particularly amateur golfers.
A complete charmer, PHANTOM OF THE OPEN is light and lively fun, with wonderful warm performances by the marvelous Mark Rylance and Sally Hawkins, and filled with both hilarious moments and warm uplift as well as delightful, colorful flights of visual fantasy.
PHANTOM OF THE OPEN opens June 17 in theaters.
RATING: 4 out of 4 stars
