Film Review - The Phantom of the Open (2022)

The Phantom of the Open is a British comedy drama film that stars Mark Rylance as Maurice Flitcroft, a crane driver in Barrow, England who marries Jean (Sally Hawkins) a wannabe theatre actress who puts her dreams on hold when she has her children Mike (Jake Davies) and other 2 sons James and Gene (Jonah and Christian Lees) but one night on TV he sees a round of the British Open being played and decides to then take up Golf and is later accepted into the British Open but his playing skills make him a laughing stock but Maurice is determined to keep calm and soldier on.

 

The Phantom of the Open is again another solid little movie that comes and does its job well even if it wasn’t one that I felt was going to rank highly at the end of the year, Rylance is very charming here and often a lot of fun as Maurice as he tries to figure out the next phase of his life after his children grow up and lead lives of their own and finds it in the Golf Course despite many objections by those around him who play professionally and it was good to see Rylance in a role like this where he prove he's a good comedic actor instead of the serious roles he often plays.

 

Also good is Sally Hawkins as Jean as someone who looks as though she has put up with a lot in her life be it having her first child out of wedlock to having 2 more sons and losing her own dreams and then watching Maurice try and find his way again when they easily could’ve enjoyed a nice retirement in the late 70s but she does a good job as do the Lees twins and Jake Davies who often get frustrated with their dad but still love him nonetheless.

 

Also good is Rhys Ifans no stranger to playing over the top characters (he was recently in the Kings Man prequel from the beginning of the year) as the villainous golf official Mr McKenzie who often butts heads with Maurice, and he is good in this role and his scenes with Rylance are enjoyable as well.

 

And so that was the Phantom of the Open and look it’s not the best movie I’ve seen this year, but I liked it for what it was and had fun watching it, 3 out of 5.