FilmSnobReviews

Title: The Long Game
MPA Rating: PG
Director: Julio Quintana
Starring: Jay Hernandez, Cheech Marin, Julian Works
Runtime: 1 hr 52 mins

What It Is: It is 1955. Five young Mexican-American boys will learn the game of golf. They work as caddies but don’t QUITE know the rules. When a new coach steps in to help they’ll learn not just the game but quite a bit about themselves and each other. With their own new course to play they have to also navigate the prejudices of such a stuffy game. One wrought with obvious cheating and a lack of respect to these young men.

What We Think: This is perfectly sufficient sports fodder. Jay Hernandez is the heart and soul of a film that’s really heavy handed and frankly forgettable. So forgettable that I saw this film LAST YEAR at a festival and forgot that I’d done so. I had also straight up FORGOTTEN to review it. So even after having just watched this film I just didn’t bother giving thoughts. Its’ fine. All you lovely folks get to read them know…like a year later after a second, equally as forgettable watch. I’m probably the target audience here and I can say with full confidence…no thank you.

Our Grade: C-, Dennis Quaid can fuck right off. HE feels even more out of place in this given his recent antics. ESPECIALLY because of who this film is about. Jay Hernandez is good but not good enough to carry this schlocky material to it’s obvious conclusion. Its not the total failure it could’ve been. It’s just all very safe. Very Disney-fied. This is the sort of sports movie the mouse would’ve made about 20 years ago. To book end with the Invincible and/or Miracle. There’s some things to like here and I love a good Latin American success story but I won’t give a film a pass for that if I can’t even remember enjoying it.