I hate the ending; I'm a completely competitive person; and I was good enough to play as a pro myself (albeit not in the big show). This was a screenwriter's idea of what makes a professional golfer exciting and/or good, but factually it's only self-destructive behavior for a pro to do this sort of thing. Phil Mickelson, for instance--whom I absolutely love, don't get me wrong, and I also think has as much pure talent as anybody who's ever played--blows himself up with this do-or-die thing all the time. That is his makeup, sure, but his big wins have come when he _wasn't_ playing like that.
I think the best that can be said for the film is that it's entertaining to people who know only a little about pro golf and/or to people who may know a lot about it but don't demand that the movie is particularly realistic. That is, I can see those who really liked the film defending it on the basis that it was good entertainment, etc., with golf as just the device to keep the love-story thing going, or golf as only the purported subject when the real subject was the psychology of this character and his development over time. But to defend it on the basis that it says something valuable about the psychology of a pro golfer, or even a pro athlete in general, is just off-base. You might as well construct a story in which a shooting guard takes 15 shots in a row and misses them all, and thereby loses the championship game for his team. That may say something about a head-case athlete--they do exist--but so what?
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crysjumar
13 years ago
@ emncaity
I grant you this is an extreme example but I would venture that there are a number of has-been or "never was" who had some talent but could not win the battle within themselves. AND, he has just become a pro golfer. So this can't be a comparison to a seasoned pro golfer.
you can do-- it's a hooded 4-iron, man. You just turn it over, and you start it off low-- you can do it. ...
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emncaity
13 years ago
Not a bad point (or points). He was a little Nuke Lalooshish in that film.
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eddysl12
13 years ago
Emncaity, I agree with you about the ending. Tin cup let down himself, his long-suffering caddy, and all his friends who helped get him to the U.S. Open. The problem with his shrink was that she was projecting her own problems on to him when she told him to go for it, because she never had. Tin's problem was that he had always gone for it, and look where that strategy had left him.
I know we were suppose to hate David Simms, but despite his personality flaws the man was a disciplined player who made the most of the talent he did have. The sheer fact that you are playing in the U.S. Open or any other major tournament should be enough because you really have to be a great golfer to make it to that level in the first place. You don't really need to show off.
This is a great, funny movie with a sour ending. I do wish they would have ended it with Tin Cup winning the Open by not showing off. Doing things differently than the way you have been doing them, even if it means playing it safe for a change, is also a type of boldness.
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crysjumar
13 years ago
I would have to disagree. Tin Cup actually won. He achieved "immortality" (unintentionally), he still qualified for the next Open, he did learn that he shouldn't always go for it (after the awful 12 of course) AND he got the girl. Having him win the open would have been too easy. Life is not that easy. He still has a number of steps to take in his development.
- C'mon back to my room and I'll give you a Rusty Venture.
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Doom
13 years ago
Agreed.
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Wait a minute... who am I here?
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