For the most part, golf movies are not at the top of my list. Maybe that’s because I’ve tried (even took lessons) and never really found the rhythm of the game. I loved the socializing. I even loved being out in a lush green environment on a beautiful sunny day but just never enjoyed spending four hours playing a game and then another two at the clubhouse, drink in hand rehashing every moment.
Seven Days in Utopia is a golf movie, but it’s not as much about the game of golf as it is about the game of life. Last year I reviewed the sleeper movie, Get Low. I wrote, “newcomer Lucas Black stands out by stepping back,” well, I am happy to say Lucas is stepping forward in Utopia and looking great as Luke Chisolm, budding pro golfer.
Luke’s father has been grooming him to be a pro golfer most of his life. A natural talent, he finally gets to the spot on the green where it looks like he’s going to bridge from amateur to pro and he has a complete meltdown right in front of millions of people on the golf channel. His father walks off, gets in his car and drives away. Luke wants to be anywhere but there.
After almost running into a bull on a lonely country road, Luke finds himself sitting by his wrecked car in a field of cow paddies. Up rides Johnny Crawford on his horse. Johnny, played by the amazing Robert Duvall (also cast in Get Low), welcomes Luke to Utopia, Texas, population 355. This is the start of Luke’s Seven Days in Utopia.
Johnny takes Luke to the Lost Maples Café where it seems everyone in town is gathered. He is introduced and his wounds are tended. Johnny seems to own most of the businesses in town including the local B & B. While snooping around, Luke wanders into Johnny’s den and realizes from all the memorabilia that Johnny used to be, in fact a pro golfer, so when he offers him lessons, Luke accepts. Herein begins the journey; Johnny was offering more than lessons on golf. By the way, did I tell you that Utopia has a golf course, yup … owned by Johnny? For the next seven days, Luke gets lessons in fly fishing, art, rodeo; you name it, different day, different lesson. The first step was to find his conviction about his foundation. The second was never let a casual comment erode your confidence. Luke learns to SFT; See, Feel, Trust. The lessons and the healing just kept coming.
Of course, most good movies have a little of everything so we do have Johnny’s strawberry blonde, wholesome as sunshine niece, Sarah (Deborah Ann Wohl) and her supposed boyfriend. There are sparks but this early budding relationship is definitely not the focal point of the movie, so you guys don’t have to fidget.
All in all, this is a wonderful movie about mentorship and learning why we do what we do. If we’re blessed enough we learn that “we don’t need a ball to validate us.” I highly recommend Seven Days in Utopia. I welcome your comments at chastings@rockcliff.com.
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