The Phantom of the Open ★★★½

EARLIER in 2022 we saw the release of English comedy The Duke with Jim Broadbent playing a real character from history.

In that enjoyable film the person ‘ borrowed’ a famous painting from an art gallery to make an anti-establishment statement and ended up becoming a working-class hero.

Now in mid-2022 we have another great English actor, Mark Rylance, playing a naive battler who also took on the establishment in the form of the British open golf tournament organisers.

The Phantom of the Open is the better film and reminded me very much in tone and script to the classic Australian comedy The Castle.

Rylance plays Maurice Flitcroft, a married father of three boys in his 40s who works as a crane operator at a Lancashire shipyard.

Maurice has brought his sons up to pursue their dreams and shares the same philosophy with his fellow workers.

But Maurice himself doesn’t know what his dream is until one day he is transfixed by a televised game of golf.

When Maurice discovers Britain’s main tournament is technically open to anyone with a handicap he decides to enter, despite never having hit a ball.

According to the film version of the story, Maurice and his wife think ‘handicap’ means a bad back but also nonchalantly tick ‘professional’ so they don’t have to bother explaining.

Maurice tries to have a round at a local club but is immediately thwarted by rules governing membership.

In the meantime Maurice’s fraudulent application is accidentally overlooked and he ends up hitting the worst score ever on the first day of the qualifying rounds.

Banished from the tournament and any golf club in the entire country, Maurice fights back by fraudulently entering the next year’s Open.

His fight with golf authorities attracts the attention of media and fellow weekend hackers and a legend grows.

Craig Roberts’ film casts the main character in a very favourable light naive, innocent and playful.

But by accounts the opposite may behave been true in real life with Maurice going to great lengths, including fake names and disguises, to continue making fools of the organising body.

Regardless, Rylance delivers a very humorous interpretation that left me smiling throughout the film.

The strong supporting cast includes Sally Hawkins as his wife Jean and Rhys Ifans as the face of officialdom.

You don’t have to be a golf fan to enjoy this one.

The Phantom of the Open  ★★★½

EARLIER in 2022 we saw the release of English comedy The Duke with Jim Broadbent playing a real character from history.

In that enjoyable film the person ‘ borrowed’ a famous painting from an art gallery to make an anti-establishment statement and ended up becoming a working-class hero.

Now in mid-2022 we have another great English actor, Mark Rylance, playing a naive battler who also took on the establishment in the form of the British open golf tournament organisers.

The Phantom of the Open is the better film and reminded me very much in tone and script to the classic Australian comedy The Castle.

Rylance plays Maurice Flitcroft, a married father of three boys in his 40s who works as a crane operator at a Lancashire shipyard.

Maurice has brought his sons up to pursue their dreams and shares the same philosophy with his fellow workers.

But Maurice himself doesn’t know what his dream is until one day he is transfixed by a televised game of golf.

When Maurice discovers Britain’s main tournament is technically open to anyone with a handicap he decides to enter, despite never having hit a ball.

According to the film version of the story, Maurice and his wife think ‘handicap’ means a bad back but also nonchalantly tick ‘professional’ so they don’t have to bother explaining.

Maurice tries to have a round at a local club but is immediately thwarted by rules governing membership.

In the meantime Maurice’s fraudulent application is accidentally overlooked and he ends up hitting the worst score ever on the first day of the qualifying rounds.

Banished from the tournament and any golf club in the entire country, Maurice fights back by fraudulently entering the next year’s Open.

His fight with golf authorities attracts the attention of media and fellow weekend hackers and a legend grows.

Craig Roberts’ film casts the main character in a very favourable light naive, innocent and playful.

But by accounts the opposite may behave been true in real life with Maurice going to great lengths, including fake names and disguises, to continue making fools of the organising body.

Regardless, Rylance delivers a very humorous interpretation that left me smiling throughout the film.

The strong supporting cast includes Sally Hawkins as his wife Jean and Rhys Ifans as the face of officialdom.

You don’t have to be a golf fan to enjoy this one.