![]() ![]() ![]() Your soul's better soothed by just driving out to Utopia and eating a peach. It's as chaste as sugar-free cheesecake, which includes Luke's budding relationship with virginal town beauty Sarah (Woll, of True Blood), and it concludes with a cliffhanging, on-the-green scene that directs the audience to … a website? Now that's just evil. When his first big shot turns out to be a very. That film at least had the appeal of watching Nick Nolte play Yoda, whereas here Duvall simply seems to be playing Duvall. Seven Days in Utopia follows the story of Luke Chisolm, a talented young golfer set on making the pro tour. Commentary: As I mentioned in my previous blog, last weekend was the 10th anniversary of the movie, Seven Days in Utopia.What many people don’t know is that I wrote a sequel to that book and movie that came out a few years ago, Golf’s Sacred Journey: The Sequel. It's meant to be transcendent: The mantra of "see it, feel it, trust it" (the "it" being God, natch) is vociferously repeated, but while I can see and feel the filmmakers’ surreptitious intent, I'm not at all sure I can trust it.įor one thing, Seven Days in Utopia feels an awful lot like Victor Salva's 2006 New Age uplifter Peaceful Warrior. At Bay Area theaters.) Until its final seconds, 'Seven Days in Utopia' is just a piece of gee-whiz, G. And that he does via a string of unconventional golf and life lessons that leave Luke a born-again ballstroker. There he meets grizzled Johnny Crawford (Duvall, really chewing it), an ex-PGA pro who long ago lost it to the bottle before getting religion and settling down in bucolic Utopia.Ĭrawford offers the young hothead a deal: Stick around for a week, and I'll save your game, kid. Luke packs it up and drives on down the metaphorical road only to arrive in the Texas Hill Country idyll of Utopia (and, in some sequences, Fredericksburg). Eighteen on a par 4 isn't the end of the world, but Luke feels otherwise, especially since his win-at-any-cost father walks off the green in a disbelieving (and decidedly uncool, parentingwise) huff. It never fails to hit a hole in one when it comes to hammering the audience over the noggin with the Ancient Mashie of Truthiness when a subtly played putt to the heart is what's called for.īlack is the San Antonio-based hothead golfer Luke Chisholm who muffs a shot or 10 on his way to the PGA and has a very public meltdown. Recommended as a good solid family movie.Based on psychologist/golfer David Cook's memoir, Golf's Sacred Journey: Seven Days at the Links of Utopia, this Christian-themed, inspirational foray into the sacred soul of golf and man is beautifully shot, well-acted by a cast headed by Texans Robert Duvall and Lucas Black, and about as electrifying as a Sunday afternoon La-Z-Boy golf nap. ![]() It is also about the struggle toward redemption, and the path shown in the film is a surrender to God, letting Him take charge and letting go all of the angst that burdens our failures, whether it's a missed golf shoot or even alcoholism. In the movie, the main character needed to renew his convictions in order to fulfill his purpose, which in his case was excellence at golf. It is about golf, and the idea that the game is an individual game, one player vs. I took away the idea that our frenzied lives are not always good for us, and especially if they deprive us of the time or the mood to reflect on and renew our purpose and our convictions. I am always hesitant to reveal too much plot, but suffice to say the movie touches on many subjects, one of which is small town life. Even for those who are put off by Christian movies, I can recommend that they see it and try to think about the values espoused without dwelling on the source of those values. It is not heavy handed in what little preaching it does, which I know puts some people off. I recommend the movie because it is a pleasurable way to spend a little time. The kids liked it too – it was easy to follow, easy to understand, and had plenty of fun parts. My wife enjoyed it most of all because it was clean, meaning it had no profanity, and the romantic leads were not rolling in bed ten minutes into the movie. I watched the movie with my wife, who knows nothing about golf, and my two children, ten and seven. Seven Days in Utopia tells the story of a man's failure and then his struggle, and it's a familiar storyline, as old as the heroes of Greek mythology. ![]()
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