3 ½ Stars (out of 4)
It’s wonderful that this movie has arrived at the beginning of golf season. For those of us in the South, the season is never ending. Yet, for our northern neighbors it is just the sort of nudge that makes golfers ache to get out onto the greening fairways. But this movie is not just for golfers – just as “Lassie Come Home” is not just for dog lovers; “Bambi” is not just for deer lovers; or “Black Beauty” is not for horse lovers. This is a heart warming movie for everyone.
“The Long Game” is based on a true story of a group of Mexican-American teens in Del Rio, Texas – a stone’s throw from the Mexican border. The high schoolers work on the weekends as caddies at the excusive Del Rio Country Club. As often happens with caddies, this is their first taste of a game that they will passionately adopt and take with them into their declining years. Being poor but full of hunger for the game, they build their own mini golf course in the middle of the Texas desert and teach themselves to play the game with an assortment of outdated equipment.
In the mid 1950’s, JB Pena (Jay Hernandez) arrives in Del Rio with an old set of golf clubs inherited from his dad and a new position as superintendent of public schools. His life-long friend, Frank Mitchell (Dennis Quaid), is a retired golf pro who taught JB the finer points of the game and is a member of the exclusive (white only) Del Rio Country Club. JB longs to join the club and is encouraged by Mitchell to apply for membership, only to be shot down because of his Mexican roots.
When JB discovers the make-shift desert golf course built by the five teens, he enlists the help of Mitchell and establishes the San Felipe High School’s first golf team. His initiative will ultimately break some barriers of exclusivity of the game. JB’s objective for his team is to reach and win the Texas State High School Golf Championship.
This objective does not come without some serious pain. JB is as much concerned with the rules of etiquette inherent in the game as he is with the skills of playing the game. With his quick tempered star, Joe (Jilian Works), this is a huge undertaking. But the team comes together, accepting their small wins as successful stepping stones toward their larger goal of winning the State Championship – which they achieved in 1957. This is also a precursor to the entry of Latinos into the ranks of golf touring pros – the most notable being Lee Travino who began his winning career in the 1970’s.
The cast is excellent with notable performances by the entire crew. My own favorite is the surprise performance of Cheech Marin as Pollo, the grounds keeper. Perhaps you recall the comedy team of Cheech and Chong popular in the ‘70s and ‘80s. His character is both humorous and sage-like.
“The Long Game” is a “feel good” film. The problem with a “feel good “ movie is that it often addresses a social or moral “wrong” which has a way of smarting after the good feeling passes. Often it’s because the “wrong” has not really been redressed in the broad brush of society. While Latinos may have broken the barrier in the PGA, there is still the simmering hostility concerning immigrants at our southern border and the inequalities in our own community.
I saw this film in the front row at Park Plaza Cinema with my friend and movie buddy Kathy.
McVitty Movie Reviews 