The Phantom of the Open

source: The Phantom of the Open

While the real story of Maurice Flitcroft is quite interesting, this movie version is overall disappointing. The main character, Mr Flitcroft, is portrayed as a likeable simpleton who, despite growing up in Britain, is oblivious to the fact that the British Open golf championship is played by the world's very best golfers. To suspend belief and think that the movie version of Maurice Flitcroft, having never played a round of golf in his life, actually believes that he can win the tournament is just plain ridiculous. The real Maurice Flitcroft managed to enter the tournament because he was a bit of a scoundrel, a scallywag and a trouble maker seeing 'fame and fortune'. The movie version was actually seeking the 10,000 pound prize money as he was likely to be retrenched from his job as a crane operator. What would have been more interesting would have been to explore exactly how the Royal and Ancient Golf Club (who run the British Open) managed to allow Flitcroft to enter the qualifying rounds as a complete unknown and how he was able to complete 18 holes and score 121 without anyone alerting the authorities. Even better would have been an attempt to try to delve into why the real Maurice Flitcroft was so determined to seek fame and fortune in a sport he had no experience at, but this was passed up. As a side note, a real missed opportunity in the film was when the authorities became aware that Flitcroft had scored 63 (for his opening nine holes). When informed of this, the official in charge should have said, "63? That's excellent!" and then should have been informed that it was only for the front nine. The makers of the movie didn't seem to understand this. Overall, the film is a disappointment, making Flitcroft out to be a loveable idiot whose heart is in the right place instead of a more interesting character with a strange desire for attention and infamy. Someone the film makers chose to ignore for the sake of a few cheap laughs. A pity.

This film gets a full UK release on March 18th. And let me tell you, you should really put a note - "Go to Cinema" - in your diary right now! What a wonderful feelgood film this really is. Positives: What a treat March has delivered in terms of quirky feelgood British comedies! There are marked similarities between this movie and "The Duke" released a few weeks ago. 1) Both are based on totally bonkers true stories; 2) Both feature totally lovable and charismatic actors. Broadbent was kindly and twinkly in "The Duke". Here Mark Rylance sends the twinkleometer right off the chart! He's proved that he can do brilliant dead-pan comedy in "Don't Look Up". But after this one there is nothing much left in the world's charisma bank. 3) Both have stonking performances from the lady playing "'er indoors". The roles of Helen Mirren and Sally Hawkins are similar but differently performed. And both are tone perfect. You can feel the utter love between Mr and Mrs Flitcroft: soulmates for life. The script is by Simon Farnaby, who I know best as an actor (he pops up in a cameo as a pro golfer in the movie). But he also has a range of great film scripts in his CV, most notably the beloved "Paddington 2". This shares some of the quirky humour of that movie, while also leaning on the fantasy elements of films like "Moulin Rouge" and (particularly) "Eddie the Eagle". It works brilliantly. The British love a trier, especially a trier who is a complete loser. I found parallels between Maurice's battle against the snooty Open Championship officials, here led by Keith Mackenzie (Rhys Ifans), and Eddie's battle against the Olympic snob Dustin Target, played by Tim McInnerny. The score by the wonderful Isobel Waller-Bridge fits just perfectly and is an utter delight. I hope the soundtrack gets released. Negatives: Man.... a proper critic should surely come up with something here! But I really found nothing not to love about this movie. I can't wait to watch it again. Summary Thoughts on "The Phantom of the Open": Anyone who follows my One Mann's Movies blog will know that I don't chuck out 5* ratings willy-nilly. But I really think that this one might build to the lofty status of "feelgood British classic" with relative ease, joining the likes of "Four Weddings and a Funeral"; "Notting Hill" and "Paddington 2" as a movie you can reach for when life is getting you down and you need a morale boost. With all the terrible footage from Ukraine continuing to flood our news, I'd strongly suggest you take advantage of 100 minutes of mental relief when this one opens on March 18th. (For the full graphical review, please check out One Mann's Movies on the web or Facebook. Thanks).

A wonderful, warm & cosy feel good film (a cliché, I know) with plenty of laughs, and who could not love Maurice. Two fingers up to the golf snobs, too, which is always a good thing.