Drawl-ma. G. 1 hour, 49 minutes. At area theaters.
In “Seven Days in Utopia,” a mild-mannered young golfer has a mild meltdown in the middle of a tournament. That’s followed by seven days of perspective-patching among mild-mannered God-fearing folk in rural Texas. Faith and “fore” walk hand in hand — sort of — in this soft-centered faith-based drama starring Lucas Black of “Friday Night Lights,” “Get Low” and “Jarhead.”
First-time director Matt Russell’s film follows aspiring pro Luke Chisolm (Black) as he explodes in contained fury in a televised tourney where he had hoped to earn his pro tour card. We then follow Luke as he flees the spotlight and the embarrassment of his worst day on the course, turning up at a ranch in a small town.
Robert Duvall is the sage old rancher, Johnny Crawford. He takes Luke in (the younger man has dinged his car) and makes him ponder the great questions of golf (“How could a game have such an affect on a man’s soul?”).
Luke takes life lessons from Johnny, lessons that can be applied on the course. He swaps wisecracks with the locals. And he meets the fetching Sarah (Deborah Ann Woll), who is “trainin’ to be a horse whisperer.”
Oscar winner Melissa Leo and wonderful character actress Kathy Baker are here to lend, well, character. But mostly, this is about Johnny playing golf guru to Luke.
If golf is “a good walk, spoiled,” then “Seven Days” is a potentially good golf movie stuck in a water hazard — as in “watered down.” (Ask 40 golfers about their worst tantrum on the course, and 35 of them will top this milder- than-mild one.) It lacks much in the line of tension, as we work our way right down the middle of the fairway toward the predictable “big game” (tournament) finish.
