Today's Movie: Tin Cup

Tin Cup is a 1996 sports/romantic-comedy movie starring Kevin Costner and Rene Russo. Costner has been in quite a few sports films over the years starting in the late 80's and while Tin Cup isn't a bad movie, I don't think it's as good as Field of Dreams or Bull Durham but it's better than say For the Love of the Game.

The plot centers around a former star college golfer named Roy "Tin Cup" McAvoy (played by Costner) who never made it in pro golf because his stubbornness, arrogance, and lack of motivation always got in his way. McAvoy now owns a Texas driving range where he works with his friend Romeo (played by Cheech Marin). One day Roy is asked to caddy for golf pro David Simms (played by Don Johnson), but it isn't long before he starts pestering Simms to go for the big shot instead of playing it safe and he gets fired as a result. However, Roy decides he gonna get even, qualify for the upcoming U.S. Open, and beat Simms.

So, then you get the typical ups and downs you kind of expect: Roy seeks the help of a psychologist named Molly (played by Rene Russo) who happens to be Simms' girlfriend and, of course, they fall for each other. He also acts like a jerk to his buddy Romeo who then quits caddying for him, but they make up like nothing happened. The plot is pretty bland throughout a good chuck of the movie until the last 20-25mins. The U.S. open is underway, Roy is battling for 1st place, and everything comes down to the last hole. There is a water hazard near the green and all Roy has to do is play it safe, shoot for par, and go to a playoff. In most films, he would've have learned his lesson over the course of the film and finally play it safe, but not in this case. He goes for the big shot and the ball lands in the water. Stubbornly, he goes for it again, and again, and again, repeatedly hitting it into the water, until he's down to his last ball and he finally hits it onto the green and into the hole. He blew a shot at winning the U.S. Open because of pride and arrogance, but knowing he could make the shot and being determined to do so kind of makes it feel like a win.

Is it a great movie? No, but some of the comedy works and if you like the cast and/or you're a fan of sports movies then you'll probably be entertained.

I give this one a 2.5 out of 5.

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