The Phantom of the Open (out now on multiple VOD platforms), however, is a pleasing exception to the formula – a sporting biopic in which the improbable hero’s outright crapness at his inexplicably chosen game is not just frankly stated but actively celebrated.
A middle-aged shipyard worker who blagged his way into golf’s 1976 Open Championship and proceeded to shoot the worst score on record, Maurice Flitcroft entered history mostly as a tabloid amusement.
Buoyed up by a performance of twinkly good humour, with just an edge of yearning sadness, from Mark Rylance, Craig Roberts’s cheery film turns Flitcroft from punchline to paladin – a sportsman whose defiant lack of gifts dealt a symbolic blow to golf’s stuffy, wealthy gatekeepers.
There’s perhaps a sharper satire to be made from his story, but The Phantom of the Open sticks throughout to a jaunty, feelgood agenda.
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