Z/Web

This was a surprisingly good period film about an amateur golfer who wins the U.S. Open in 1913. Though sports films tend to be predictable (either he dramatically wins by overcoming huge odds or he loses by a hair but somehow it’s okay), this one still worked. It’s a little bit hokey at times, with obvious sentimentality, but only in a few places — most of the time it’s just a good story. My favorite thing was the golfer’s caddy, a little fat boy with the attitude of a king, who stole every scene he was in (loved it when he saw the President of the United States was in attendance and he waved and shouted at him like he was a regular person). Good show.

This is an excellent film! Though I was a big fan of the TV series (it’s based on Firefly, the show Fox cancelled after 11 episodes), I was a little unsure how everything would transfer to the big screen. This film answers that easily: it’s even better on the big screen! Perhaps that was the problem with it on TV. The story was too big, too large for TV. It’s the same cast, which is awesome (the actors are so tied to their characters it would have been hard to watch with other actors in the roles), and the story is excellent. It’s high-speed action, great dialog, and terrific performances and special effects. About 90 minutes into the movie I was dreading the thought that it was going to end! That’s the opposite of my feeling in most movies. I sure hope they make this into a series and do more movies. It could easily become the next Star Trek.