One of my favourite writer-directors Edward Burns follows up his excellent Millers in Marriage with this golf based drama. I have long given up hope that his films will get a cinema release here, so am grateful that, unlike some of his other recent efforts, it can be seen here at all, with Sky Movies providing it to subscribers.
Burns stars as Freddy Finnegan, the son of an ex-professional golfer, Jack (Ian McElhinney). He still has issues from his father being absent from his life as a child and is fiercely competitive with his brother, Teddy (Brian d’Arcy James). When Jack suddenly dies, his will reveals that he wants his ashes scattered in four places back in Ireland where he was born and grew up, including two golf courses. Freddy, his son Frankie (Brian Muller), Teddy and his daughter Marie (Erica Hernandez) go on the trip, playing golf at the courses and visiting Jack’s old haunts.
It does feel like Burns has settled into comfortable middle age so there is none of the edge of, for example, his debut The Brothers McMullen. But he retains his ability to realistically portray a family dynamic, even if the characters can be a little annoying. He also delivers one of his best performances as a successful businessman who is still trying to gain his father’s approval, and is suffering mental health wise for not having it.
It is a little flabby at over two hours, and some of the golf sequences could have been trimmed.
Rating: 7 out of 10