Directed by: Ron Shelton
Starring: Kevin Costner, Cheech Marin, Rene Russo, Linda Hart, Don Johnson, Jim Nantz, Ken Venturi
If there was ever a guy who could've been a contender, it is Roy McAvoy (Costner), nicknamed Tin Cup, a one-time promising golfer who now operates a run-down driving range in Podunk, Texas. He has more buddies who hang around than customers. Tin Cup and his pals pass the time by making absurd bets on just about anything. One day, pretty, well-dressed psychologist Molly Griswold (Russo) drops in wanting to learn how to play golf. Roy is smitten and falls in love, which doesn't cross any ethical boundaries to my knowledge. Molly is surely attracted to Roy, but isn't quite sure the life of dating a broken down golf pro is for her.
Roy could've been a golfer on the tour, much like his college buddy (turned rival) David Simms (Johnson), who happens to be Molly's boyfriend and adds another twist of the knife into Roy's already fragile psyche. Roy takes too many needless risks on the golf course. He goes for it when he should play it safe. At times, he melts down and breaks every club in his bag except a 7 iron.
His best friend and caddie Romeo (Marin) can only shake his head and watch in despair as Roy self-destructs...again. Can Roy actually win Molly and pull himself together to qualify for the upcoming US Open? Maybe. Maybe not. Part of the fun of Tin Cup is watching him try.
Tin Cup is not as conventional as it sounds, which is part of its charm, although the ending is unsatisfactory. Roy doesn't necessarily have to win for the ending to be satisfactory, but it attempts to put a smiley face on another Roy mental meltdown and that will not do. Until that moment, though, I admired Tin Cup for its effortless likability. Costner plays Roy as not just an underdog, but a guy who is trying not to be all edges and elbows. He loves Molly, but realistically understands she may not want to trade in her stylish boyfriend for life in a trailer. Molly herself doesn't know what she should do. So, she agrees to be Roy's sports psychologist, helping him work through his "inner crapola" as she puts it so he can maybe realize his potential. This, of course, is like a moth flying too close to the flame. I enjoyed the fact that Molly isn't played as a pushover, but an intelligent woman with inner crapola of her own.
Ron Shelton, who teamed with Costner in 1988's Bull Durham and again here, wrote and directed some of the smarter sports comedies. He is not only interested in the players, but the game, and the outlying factors which could affect both. He lovingly shows us his people with their odd superstitions, their backstories, and their passions which could both help and hinder them at any given minute. I liked the people in Tin Cup. Costner and Marin have an easy, unforced chemistry. Even Don Johnson isn't your standard rival prick. He is smarmy to be sure and likes to needle Roy, but he isn't unbearably arrogant. His relationship is based more on rivalry than hatred.
The US Open scenes have an authentic feel with CBS analysts Jim Nantz and the late Ken Venturi on hand to call the action. Tin Cup loves golf to be sure, but it loves its characters more. I just wish the ending didn't try so hard to be atypical.
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