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Tin Cup Customer Reviews (1 - 3 of 16 Reviews)

One of the funniest movies ever made.
I'm so glad I bought this DVD; the more I watch it the funnier
it gets. Charming performances, witty dialogue, and a music score
to die for. (Roger Ebert's review available from imdb catches this
work just right.) Costner has never been more charming and disarming. Kevin and Rene have some sweet love scenes, nothing
like the searing stuff she did with Brosnan in Thomas Crown!
I never in my life could "get" golf, and now I am
watching the tournaments on TV. The lore of this film has passed
into the general culture, at least among golf people, and you will
laugh all the way through this delightfully quirky movie.

Tin Cup is a Tin Bore....
In a career that falls ever more. this somewhat medicore love story did little for Costner's film resume when it was released in 1996. It has little script and mostly features dull performances, We seem to wait endlessly for Costner's character to at last win the heart of the Rene Russo character and by the end of the movie while watching more golf on TV, they finally passionately kiss each other, which turns out to be the only good scene in the whole movie.

"It was the greatest twelve of all time!"
TIN CUP is a movie that, for all intents and purposes, should not work. You've got a star-Kevin Costner-who is a mediocre golfer at best, paired with Don Johnson-who hasn't done any good work since MIAMI VICE, along with Cheech Marin-trying to go straight and avoid any drug reference, and Rene Russo-who seems unable to act without Mel Gibson by her side. Think BULL DURHAM on a golf course. Then throw that idea away. Despite having the deck stacked heavily against it, TIN CUP comes in well under par. (For you non-golfers, that is a good thing).

When Ron Shelton and Kevin Coster join forces, the chemistry between filmmaker and actor is as palpable as the chemistry between Kevin Costner and Rene Russo in this film. Costner is Shelton's "go to guy", and I only wish they would team up more often. As washed up golf pro Roy "Tin Cup" McAvoy, Costner shines in a role as far from his "Crash" Davis turn in BULL DURHAM as possible. Where Davis was a rather enigmatic, clean cut stud sent in to rescue a failing Minor League club team, McAvoy is the antithesis of the local hero. He is dirty. He drinks excessively. He lives in a van down by the river. (OK, not a van, but you get the point). McAvoy spends his days in the West Texas town of Salome "letting the big dog eat"-knocking golf balls into the sunset at the run down driving range which he barely owns-and betting on which insect will meet their peril at the hands of the glowing electric bug zapper. His closest companion is the similarly grungy Romeo Posar, played with pitch perfect classlessness by Cheech Marin. (Chong is-thankfully-nowhere in sight). Into this mix strolls the breathtaking Rene Russo as the rather ditsy-and somewhat unbelievable Therapist-Dr. Molly Griswold. She is seeking golf lessons, and since McAvoy's range is the "last chance to hit golf balls" for hundreds of miles, she has no choice but to endure Roy's spiritual insights into the game. Thus begins the rebirth of Roy. Spurred on by Molly's beauty, and perhaps a bit by her unattainability, "Tin Cup" decides he must have her for his own. No matter that she belongs to his old rival, David Simms, a smarmy and wholly believable Don Johnson. Johnson brings to life a villain who is not so much hated as he is recognized. He's the office jerk you wish you could just spit on. He has it all... the fancy car, the beautiful girlfriend, the alligator that lives with him on the sailboat... oh wait, wrong character. All jokes aside, Johnson performs the only role since Sonny Crockett that you can actually relate to. For once, the guy got it right. Once McAvoy discovers that Molly is committed to Simms, he is even more smitten, and more energized to claim her for his own... whether she likes it or not. Thus begins a journey of epic proportions.

Sure the story is somewhat childish. Who among the male species has not felt at one point or another that they simply MUST have a woman just beyond their reach. Forget that for a minute... who among all of us hasn't said to themselves: "I gotta BE with him/her." This is McAvoy's plight. The loser wins the beautiful girl. It can happen. Roy thus decides the only way to win his true love's heart is to win the US Open. The fact that he thinks that this act of bravery will actually impress Molly is what makes the script, and the character of "Tin Cup" so lovable. Again I ask, how many men have tried to woo women with similar acts of bravery? "If I can win the big game... be the hero... then she'll love me." Hell, that's how I got my wife to marry me!

The film takes on the feeling of David versus Goliath. Of course McAvoy falters and Simms flaunts, but in the end... well I won't spoil it for you. However, there is one thing I will comment on, and that is the stunning, earth shattering "immortal" final hole of the Open.

Over several days of play at the Open, Roy has been unable to reach the green of the 18th hole on his second shot. What stands between him and glory is a monstrous water hazard. As any golfer knows, the smart play is to "lay up"-hit a shorter shot that will fall on Roy's side of the water and then hit it over with the third shot. But if "Tin Cup" knew anything about the smart play, we wouldn't be here in the first place. And that's the point. After several promising shots roll casually into the drink, McAvoy stands to lose everything. But does he waiver? Does he falter? Oh no, not he. McAvoy stands firm. Against everyone and everything. ("Somebody tell this clown he doesn't have to hit it from there!") And in the end... twelve shots later... that damn ball goes in the hole. And as a final salute to the water that so valiantly claimed eleven other shots, Roy tosses his winning Titleist into the drink as well.

Many people have faulted Shelton's script for it's unbelievability in this scene. I too must confess, that the first time I watched this film, I found the ending to be extremely irritating. "Why doesn't he just lay up?" I yelled. But then I had a memory from my childhood: I remembered as a kid, standing in the driveway late into the night, chucking basketballs at the net, determined not to go to bed until I made that perfect shot. We all feel that we have that perfect shot inside us. "Tin Cup" just doesn't go to bed until he makes his. I would argue that anyone who believes in perfect endings has one right here. Just watch it again with that in mind and you will begin to understand. This proves to be one of the most satisfying and uplifting endings to any sports movie ever conceived. For me, it is a defining moment. For Roy too. Besides, what kind of ending would it be for Roy to lay up, and then win by putting out? Like Molly says: "No one's gonna remember the Open five yeas from now, who won, who lost, but they're gonna remember your twelve, Roy!" It truly is "the greatest twelve of all time."

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