In "Seven Days in Utopia," a mild-mannered, young golfer has a mild meltdown in the middle of a tournament. That's followed by seven days of perspective-patching among mild-mannered, God-fearing folk in rural Texas. Faith and "fore" walk hand in hand — sort of — in this soft-centered, faith-based drama starring Lucas Black of "Friday Night Lights," "Get Low" and "Jarhead."
Based on David L. Cook's self-help novel, "Golf's Sacred Journey: Seven Days at the Links of Utopia," first-time director Matt Russell's film follows aspiring pro Luke Chisholm (Black) as he explodes in a contained fury in a televised tourney where he had hoped to earn his pro card.
We've met the somewhat domineering dad (Joseph Lyle Taylor) who caused Luke to snap. We then follow Luke as he flees the spotlight and the embarrassment of his worst day on the course, turning up at a ranch in a small town where he figures nobody will know who he is.
Robert Duvall is sage old rancher Johnny Crawford, a fellow who enters Luke's life on horseback. He takes the golfer in (Luke has dinged his car) and makes him ponder the great questions of golf: "How could a game have such an effect on a man's soul?"
Luke takes life lessons from Johnny. He swaps wisecracks with the locals. And he meets the fetching Sarah (Deborah Ann Woll), who is "trainin' to be a horse whisperer."
Oscar winner Melissa Leo is here to lend, well, character. But mostly, this is about Johnny playing golf guru to Luke — making him visualize and "paint" (literally) the shot he visualizes, ordering him to learn balance by standing up in a canoe, patience by fly-fishing.
If golf is "a good walk, spoiled," then "Seven Days" is a potentially good golf movie stuck in a water hazard — as in "watered down." It goes in the rough with the staging of Luke's infamous "meltdown." Yeah, it's a game about decorum and self-control, and yes, this blow-up happens on TV. But ask 40 golfers about their worst tantrum on the course, and 35 of them will top this milder-than-mild one. In flashbacks, we see the (mildly) domineering dad who set the stage for Luke's bad day and get a sense of the (mild, again) pressures the kid is under.
The movie opens with a Bible quotation — Isaiah 30:21, "Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, 'This is the way; walk in it.'" But the film seems to lose its nerve about this, too, soft-selling religion as it rubs rough edges off the characters.
"Seven Days" is beautifully shot — all rosy-hued back-lit backswings. And Black, an avid golfer, makes a very convincing pro. The film's charm comes from its lighter moments. Duvall and Black have a warm mentor-student rapport.
But "Seven Days in Utopia" lacks surprises, from Johnny's "dark" past to his own life-altering mistakes. And it lacks much in the line of tension, as we work our way right down the middle of the fairway toward the predictable "big game" (tournament) finish.
It's not a sport that lends itself to great filmmaking, but there are ways to finesse that — with color, with humor, with creative shot-making. This one treats its subject as if it's a tap-in for par, and thus, most of the best clubs were left in the bag.
"Seven Days in Utopia"
Grade: 2 stars
Genres: Drama
Running Time: 109 min
MPAA Rating: G
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