Date: Fri 13-Sep-1996

Publication: Bee

Author: DONNAM

Illustration: C

Location: A11

Quick Words:

Playing-Costner-Tin-Cup-Russo

Full Text:

(Now Playing on "Tin Cup," 9/13/96)

Now Playing-

Costner Returns To A Favorable Genre

By Trey Paul Alexander III

Tin Cup , which has been playing at Danbury's Crown Cine theatre, returns to

the genre in which Kevin Costner has previously had much success... the sports

flick ( Bull Durham , Field of Dreams ). For those of you rolling your eyes at

the notion of golf as anything more than a leisure activity, my sympathies are

with you. I can't claim to be much of a fan of anything that has to do with

links, drivers, pars or greens (well, maybe greens... I do love salads). Tin

Cup even has one of the main characters utter, "This is without a doubt, the

most stupidest, silliest, most idiotic grotesquery masquerading as a game that

has ever been invented." But to the movie's credit, it crosses the boundaries

of fairways everywhere and brings golf (or at least some semblance of

appreciation for it) to the masses.

The hero of the piece is Roy "Tin Cup" McAvoy (Costner), the owner of a grimy

driving range in the dusty dredges of Salome, Texas. McAvoy was a legend in

his college days, but has fallen into disrepute because of a tendency to

gamble his game on high-risk shots. Now his life consists of wasting away his

days with Romeo (Cheech Marin), his faithful friend, caddy and golf guru, and

a motley crew of nobodies who revel in his past glories.

But things change when he meets his newest pupil, Molly (Rene Russo), a

beautiful psychologist seeking to master the game of golf. He is immediately

smitten with Molly, but a huge obstacle stands in his way: her current

boyfriend is David Simms (Don Johnson), a slick golf pro and former college

mate of McAvoy's. This begins a war of one-upmanship (prompting some of the

movie's best and funniest moments) between the two former buddies and

motivates McAvoy to pursue his "mythic quest" of winning the US Open to gain

her favor.

After his foray into big-budget action/adventure (and subsequent bold-type

headlines and rumors about disastrous overspending and endless script

rewrites) with 1995's Waterworld , Costner places his feet firmly on dry

ground with Tin Cup and revisits the charming, boyish persona so prevalent

earlier in his career. As McAvoy, Costner flashes the same winning grin that

won him much notice back when he gained moviegoers' attention as the handsome,

brash cowboy in Silverado . This is notable because in recent years Costner

has deliberately sought to distance himself from this amiable affectation by

taking on somber earnestness in JFK ; taciturn upholding of the law in Wyatt

Earp ; and gruff anti-herism in Waterworld . With Tin Cup he reminds us of

just how easily he can be the guy for which we all love to root.

For all you golf aficionados, Tin Cup boasts cameo appearances by PGA pros

like Craig Stadler, Fred Couples, Corey Pavin and Phil Mickelson, and

commentators Gary McCord and Jim Nantz. Also, to my untrained eye, the film

appears to present the game with decent authenticity, yet also keeps the

proceedings fairly clear so that the uninitiated can also follow along.

My only complaint goes out to director, co-producer and co-writer Ron Shelton,

who previously teamed with Costner on Bull Durham . Shelton - whose portfolio

includes directorial efforts on Bull Durham , White Men Can't Jump and Cobb -

specializes in sports movies, is obviously talented and knows how to draw an

audience into his subject matter. However, he unfortunately seems unable to

make anything but an R-rated flick, and that is truly a shame. The profanity

and sex (there's an unnecessary jaunt into a strip club) in Tin Cup (and that

which was evidenced in all his other movies) may stake a minor claim to

authenticity, but I find it hard to believe he couldn't have toned it down to

at least a PG-13 rating.