No. 63 (2022) THE PHANTOM OF THE OPEN July 26th.

 

Film No. 63 (2022)  July  26th.  1.15 PM   Cinema 3.  LUNA WINDSOR,  Nedlands.

 

"I didn't choose golf, it chose me. It was my destiny." (Maurice talks of his exploits to an interviewer as a prelude to the film before his extraordinary story unfolds).

Hot on the heels of THE DUKE comes, THE PHANTOM OF THE OPEN. If you loved THE DUKE then you will likely be equally entertained by PHANTOM. I guarantee it!

The thing is, if the same film appeared in cinemas but played as piece of fiction; a figment of someone's imagination, I'm not sure it would be drawing the same crowds. This man actually existed, he pulled the wool over the eyes of The Royal and Ancient Golf Club for 5 years. The story is stranger than fiction. THE PHANTOM OF THE OPEN is a fitting, entertaining tribute to Maurice Flintcroft. An ordinary, middle aged, family man who brought great mirth to the sports (mainly golf) following public, world wide.

In 1976 Maurice Flintcroft, staring redundancy in the face, decided that winning 10,000 quid as a professional golfer at The British Open golf tournament seemed like an easy way "to keep the wolves from the door". It takes blind faith or complete ignorance to think it possible considering he'd never played golf, or even belonged to a club. 

Mark Rylance (Maurice) and Sally Hawkins (Jean Flintcroft) are stars; they have been more brilliant in better films but their class elevates PHANTOM exponentially. Their artistic commitment to real-life people who play more like comic book characters is fun. Simon Farnaby first wrote the book of the same name, his research impeccable, he's done a great job with this screenplay.  9GUMS.