The Phantom of the Open Review

Maurice Flitcroft has a reputation for being the worst golfer ever after he achieved the highest score when competing in the 1976 British Open. The story of this plucky underdog gets a cinematic retelling with the comedy-drama The Phantom of the Open.

Maurice Flitcroft (Mark Rylance) is a crane driver at Vickers Shipyard in Barrow-in-Furness. When Maurice’s adopted son, Michael (Jake Davies) warns that his job is at risk, Maurice must prepare for a different profession. Maurice stumbles on the idea of playing in the British Open after watching it on TV, he just had to figure out how to enter the tournament and overcome his lack of skill.

People love an underdog story: they will cheer on someone who tries no matter what the result is. There have been cases of athletics entering events like the Olympics and being cult heroes. This happened to Michael “Eddie the Eagle” Edwards and the Jamaican Bobsleigh team, and they earned their own films and Maurice Flitcroft followed suit.

The Phantom of the Open had two main themes. There were class and family. The class theme was dominant in the first half of the film, the second focused on the Flitcroft family, although there was some overlap.

Maurice grew up in a working-class community where everyone worked in the local industry. He followed his dad and granddad to the shipyard. His experience was similar to other people: after completing school they would go to the coal mine, steel mill, shipyard, or whatever the local industry was. Maurice harboured big dreams, but he had to put them to one side when he married Jean (Sally Hawkins) because he had to provide for his new and growing family.

The prologue showed Maurice’s upbringing and how he came about his positive attitude. During the war he was evacuated and lived with a middle-class Scottish family who encouraged him to take up pursues like art, music, and reading and gave him the life lessons that he could achieve anything and practice makes perfect. He put his beliefs into practice when he took up golf.

The class theme also came into play through Maurice’s entry into the golfing world. Golf was an elitist sport. There’s a high price point because of the equipment required and the only access to courses was at the clubs which were selective about membership. So, Maurice had to come up with some unconventional methods to practice. After Maurice completed the British Open he was able to paint himself as a working-class hero who stuck two fingers up at the posho running British golf.

The final way the class theme played a major role in the film was the relationship between Maurice and Michael. Michael had become middle class because he got a degree and was a manager at the shipyard. Michael was embarrassed by Maurice, not just because of his antics on the golf course, but due to the man being shamed by his colleagues. They literally asked him ‘are you one of us or one of them?’ Michael does have some fair points about Maurice being too old to become a professional golfer when he’s never played the sport. But Michael also comes across as being a bit of a brat since he showed no gratitude to the man who raised him.

Maurice was shown to be a kind and caring man to his family and friends. He supported and encouraged them like his foster family did for him. Maurice was an earnest man who believed in himself and others. Despite Maurice’s disillusions and ineptitude, you can’t help but route for him and his positive attitude. It made The Phantom of the Open a warm and lovable film.

The Phantom of the Open was blessed with having an excellent cast. Rylance has won an Oscar and Hawkins has been nominated for one, so it was obvious they would give terrific performances. Rylance and Hawkins did feel like they were playing a genuine and loving couple. The young actors who played the Flitcroft boys were promising performers. The twins did offer a lot of light relief. Rhys Ifans was one of the most surprising members of the cast because he played the antagonistic head of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews. He was unrecognisable and performed with an upper-class Scottish accent.

The risk for a film like this was it could have been a safe offering to appeal to the broadest audience possible. Fisherman’s Friends and Dream Horse were recent British offerings about a working-class underdog story that fitted the description of safe. The Phantom of the Open had a young director, Craig Roberts, at the helm and he made sure there was some visual flair to the film. There was a wonderful dream sequence where Maurice realises he should take up golf. Roberts made sure the golf scenes were funny and used some stylish shots, like when the balls go up in the air.

The Phantom of the Open was a sincere film that should have a broad appeal thanks to the excellent performers, humour, and genuine moments of family drama.