The Long Game

UK Release Date. 12 April 2024
Certification. 12
Running Time. 1 hour 52 mins
Director. Julio Quintana
Cast. Jay Hernandez, Jaina Lee Ortiz, Dennis Quaid, Julian Works.
Rating. 38%

Review.

There is an inherent level of familiarity with Julio Quintana's The Long Game. Anyone who has ever watched a sports underdog story will undoubtedly recognise many of the beats in Quintana's film. Five young Mexican-American caddies from the border town of Del Rio, Texas, who, despite outdated, inferior equipment and no professional instruction, compete against the wealthy, varsity teams and win the 1957 Texas State High School Golf Championship. 

Based on the true story and novel, Mustang Miracle by Humberto G. Garcia, the story is one of overcoming incredible odds while enduring inexplicable prejudice along the way. Unfortunately, Quintana’s output is a steady diet of wildly hackneyed clichés and blatant sports conventions - from racist authority figures and bigoted diner owners, to oppressive immigrant fathers and resentful members of their own community.

While the issue of racial barriers has been seen in baseball films like 42, and football films like Remember The Titans, it's an infrequent component of films about golf, which is surprising given the gatekeeping in golf’s history, particularly towards women and minorities.

The characters have little depth, and the young cast are rarely afforded a legitimate subplot. The standout performance is from Jaina Lee Ortiz, as Lucy, JB Peña's (Jay Hernandez) supportive wife, who impresses with minimal screen time.

Golf has seldom fared well in cinema. Comedy films - Caddyshack, Happy Gilmore and Phantom Of The Open - have an audience, but dramatic films are less well received - Tin Cup, The Legend Of Bagger Vance and The Greatest Game Ever Played. That trend continues with The Long Game. The golf scenes are numerous, but, in truth, woeful. Surprisingly, Quintana refuses to mine any real suspense from the tournaments. The Mustangs' eventual success is so taken for granted that it hardly seems to matter where they are in the season or what the players’ respective strengths might be, let alone the stakes of each shot.

The end result is a disappointing, low-budget underdog account with the feel of a TV movie made for the Disney Channel. Whilst a story worthy of sharing far and wide, sadly, The Long Game lacks any inspirational narrative and falls short of the weight of history, much in the same way as Theodore Melfi's Hidden Figures.