director
Ron Shelton
screenwriters
John Norville
Ron Shelton
producer
Gary Foster
cinematographer
Russell Boyd
music
William Ross
editors
Kimberly Ray
Paul Seydor
cast
Kevin Costner (Roy 'Tin Cup' McAvoy)
Rene Russo (Dr. Molly Griswold)
Don Johnson (David Simms)
Cheech Marin (Romeo Posar)
Linda Hart (Doreen)
Dennis Burkley (Earl)
Rex Linn (Dewey)
Lou Myers (Clint)
mpaa rating: R
running
time: 135m
u.s.
release: August 16,
1996
video
availability: VHS -
DVD
other director
films
reviewed on this website:
- dark
blue
- hollywood
homicide
|
Some
movie genres are lucky enough to have expert filmmakers working
their side of the street. Gangster films have Martin Scorsese,
for example, and sports movies have Ron Shelton. Of course, Scorsese's
films aren't just about gangsters, and Shelton's movies -- Bull
Durham, White Men Can't Jump, Cobb, and the
new Tin Cup -- are never just about the game. They're
gentle comedies of masculine mythology (except for Cobb,
which was far from gentle). Shelton's heroes are boys who never
grew up.
The boy in Tin Cup is Roy McAvoy (Kevin Costner), a legendary
golfer -- legendary, that is, for his lack of discipline and
wasted potential. Roy, who can't resist going for risky long
drives, had the big time in his grasp and blew it; now he gives
lessons at his run-down Texas range and takes good-natured abuse
from his caddy Romeo (Cheech Marin, continuing his run of hilarious
comeback performances). Roy is fairly content with his lot until
two figures disrupt his stagnation, like a cartoon devil-angel
duo sitting on his shoulders. The devil is David Simms (Don Johnson),
a smug pro who made the bigs by "laying up" (going
for safe shots) and who relishes the chance to offer Roy a job
as his caddy. The angel is Dr. Molly Griswold (Rene Russo), a
psychologist who comes to Roy for lessons and ends up learning
a good deal more.
Shelton, who wrote the script with John Norville, sets up a parallel
romance/competition: Molly, as it turns out, is dating Simms,
and to win her heart, Roy decides he must beat Simms at the U.S.
Open. But winning isn't all Shelton has in mind. He's more interested
in what Jay McInerney called "the shabby nobility of failing"
-- that is, failing on one's own terms rather than winning by
playing it safe.
Working again with the director who guided his best performance
(in Bull Durham), Kevin Costner proves what a lot of us
have known about him all along. Put him in a mega-budget action
flick as a Mel Gibson clone, and he looks groggy and irritable.
Give him a fleshed-out character whose sense of humor is as strong
as his code of ethics, and Costner relaxes and never puts a foot
wrong. And we can feel the pleasure he takes in delivering Shelton's
pitch-perfect dialogue.
At some point, Tin Cup divides our responses. When the
inevitable final round approaches, with Roy facing off against
Simms, we want the basic movie satisfaction of Roy trouncing
his insufferable rival. Yet Molly (another witty turn by Russo),
like all Shelton women, keeps things in perspective: It's only
a game. Will Roy be false to himself in order to win?
Molly's final advice during the game sets Roy straight. The movie,
like Shelton's others, is an illustration of the old maxim: "It's
not whether you win or lose, it's how you play the game."
For Shelton, and for Roy, that wisdom extends past golf. Athletes
and fans love to position their sport as a metaphor for life
(and vice versa). Shelton does something similar -- he uses sports
as an excuse for life lessons. But the lessons go down with beautiful
ease and charm. In its low-key, scruffy way, Tin Cup is
Hollywood's class act of the summer. |