Themes: All Washed Up, Opposites Attract, Love Triangles
Main Cast: Kevin Costner, Rene Russo, Cheech Marin, Don Johnson, Dennis Burkley
Release Year: 1996
Country: US
Run Time: 133 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
Roy McAvoy (Kevin Costner) is a talented golf pro, who owns his own driving range. That sounds impressive, but the reality is quite different. While it's true that Roy is indeed a talented golfer and does own a driving range, it is in a tiny, unheard of Texas backwater. With almost no customers, he is likely to go broke. His golfing talents remain untapped and his life is rapidly going nowhere. To pass the time, he drinks a lot of beer with his buddies, or swings at a bucket of balls. Sometimes, he even plays real golf, and his friend and assistant Romeo (Cheech Marin) caddies for him. That's all there is for Roy, until he is wakened from his deathlike reverie by a visit from a newcomer in town, psychologist Molly Griswold (Renee Russo). Teaching her how to swing a club reminds him of feelings he had nearly forgotten. Discovering that she is the girlfriend of his old golfing rival, David Simms (Don Johnson), goads him yet further, and he returns to the PGA golf tour to compete in the U.S. Open. Maybe he'll get Molly for himself, maybe not, but in the meantime he has some things to prove to himself. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
Review
The best sports comedy from co-writer/director Ron Shelton since Bull Durham (1988), this lively, funny character-driven piece is a kinder, gentler, and, since the subject is golf instead of baseball, more pastoral film than the one that made Shelton and star Kevin Costner famous. That doesn't mean that it's less of a movie, as Shelton offers up a handful of memorable scenes, one a classic involving the protagonist's inability, down to a seemingly genetic level, to make the smart play. Like so much of the rest of the film, it is a breathtaking bit of writing in its giddy duality, presenting the hero as both heartbreakingly stupid and yet simultaneously noble (and ultimately, right). Costner, who is sometimes unintentionally funny in the sort of smart, competent roles he usually takes, is perfectly likable and winning as a talented dope. Supporting work is uniformly good, with Rene Russo effectively brittle in the smart female lead role usually inhabited by Shelton's wife, Lolita Davidovich, and the future Nash Bridges pairing of Don Johnson and Cheech Marin winning in comic roles as, respectively, the film's antagonist and the hero's guy Friday. As proven by the later failure of The Legend of Bagger Vance (2000), golf is a tough, slow-moving sport for cinematic translation, making Shelton's achievement with Tin Cup (1996) all the more impressive. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
Linda Hart - Doreen; Bill Caplan - US Open Starter; Fred Couples; Harold G. Herthum - Bartender; Mickey Jones - Turk; Richard Lineback - Curt; Rex Linn - Dewey; Allan Malamud - US Open Reporter; Gary McCord - Himself; Jim McLean; Michael Milhoan - Boone; Jim Nantz - CBS Announcer; George Perez - Jose; Craig Stadler - Himself; Ken Venturi - CBS Announcer; Kevin J. Wilson - Mickelson's Caddie; Susan Cabral - Patient in Exit Room; Lou Myers - Clint; Sandy Gibbons - Local Qualifier Official; George Michael - Host of "The Sports Machine"; Melissa Young - Beautiful Blonde; Arina Gasanova - 19th Hole Waitress; Tom Todoroff - Guy at Bar; Phil Mickelson; John Cook; Amy Alcott; Kris Ancira - Golden Tassel Dancer; Tommy Armour III; Gregory Avellone - Man Behind the Ropes; Lance Barrow - CBS Director; Brad Britton - Jacobsen's Caddie; Frank Chirkinian - CBS Co-ordinator Producer; Bill Costner - Grandparent With Dog; Joe Costner - Grandchild; Sharon Costner - Grandparent With Dog; Steve Elkington; Brian Hammons - Golf Channel Announcer; Rob Harris - Simms' Agent; Peter Jacobsen - Himself; Lee Janzen; Jess King - Guy at Bar; Nick Kiriazis - Guy at Bar; Peter Kostis - Golf Channel Reporter; Steven "Sven" Lewison - Simms' Caddie; Bruce Lietzke; Andrew Magee; Jeff Maggert; John Mahaffey; Billy Mayfair; Blaine McCallister; Sharyn McCreedy - Golden Tassel Waitress; David Ogrin; Jerry Pate; Corey Pavin; Tom Purtzer; Mike Ritz - Golf Channel Announcer; Jimmy Roberts - ESPN Reporter; Del Roy - Local Qualifier Starter; Mike Standly - PGA Golfer; Howard Twitty; D.A. Weibring; Gregory Buff White - PGA Tour Player; Ben Wright - CBS Announcer; Frederick Lewis - Guy at Bar
Credit
Gae S. Buckley - Art Director, Christopher Burian-Mohr - Art Director, Kellie Davis - Associate Producer, Karin Freud - Associate Producer, Ed Johnston - Casting, Victoria Thomas - Casting, Carol Oditz - Costume Designer, H. Gordon Boos - First Assistant Director, Ron Shelton - Director, Mark Vargo - Second Unit Director, Paul Seydor - Editor, Kimberly Ray - Editor, Arnon Milchan - Executive Producer, William Ross - Composer (Music Score), Mark Vargo - Camera Operator, James D. Bissell - Production Designer, Russell Boyd - Cinematographer, Gary Foster - Producer, David Lester - Producer, Ron Shelton - Producer, Ric Mcelvin - Set Designer, Kirk A. Francis - Sound/Sound Designer, Ron Shelton - Screenwriter, John Norville - Screenwriter
The storyline focuses on the relationship that develops between two entirely opposite personalities. Costner plays driving range pro Roy "Tin Cup" McAvoy, a perennial "frat boy" who has little ambition. Russo portrays Dr. Molly Griswold, a clinical psychologist in Salome, a back-water West Texas town where McAvoy's driving range is located. Molly comes to Roy for golf lessons because her boyfriend David Simms (Don Johnson) is a professional golfer. Roy is attracted to her, but she sees through his boyish charm and makes a show of resistance. Molly agrees to help Roy rebuild his self-confidence so he can become a professional golfer again and he decides to impress her by winning the U.S. Open.
Kevin Costner trained extensively with Gary McCord to learn how to play golf, as stated in the foreword he wrote for McCord's book, Golf For Dummies.[1] McCord, who helped Costner develop a swing and pre-shot routine,[2] is listed in the end credits as a golf consultant.
The film's climactic scenes take place at a fictional U.S. Open tournament set in North Carolina. Several pro golfers make cameo (credited) appearances. Some of the film was shot in Kingwood, Texas, and some was shot at Tubac GC in Tubac, Arizona. The lake was built by the film company and still guards the front of the green on this beautiful par 5 on the back nine.
Many of the golf shots by Kevin Costner's character were made by Costner himself.[3]
The scene at the end of the movie where Kevin Costner hits the shot into the water hazard again and again was based on an actual event. Gary McCord (the commentator with the handlebar mustache in the movie) is an actual commentator and pro on the Champions Tour. In a tournament he had a similar shot to Costner's. He needed a birdie to win and went for it. He shot over and over again and finally got it in 15 strokes. In the movie Costner holed out the shot and got it in 12.
References
^ Gary McCord & John Huggan, Golf for Dummies. New York: John Wiley & Sons (1999): 21
^ Gary McCord & John Huggan, Golf for Dummies. New York: John Wiley & Sons (1999): 21. "One of the first things we talked about was preshot routine."
