''The Phantom of the Open'' is a 2021 British
biographical
A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or ...
comedy-drama
Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...
film directed by
Craig Roberts
Craig Haydn Roberts (born 21 January 1991) is a Welsh actor and director. He is best known for lead roles as Oliver Tate in the coming-of-age comedy-drama film '' Submarine'' (2010) and David Meyers in the series ''Red Oaks'' (2014–2017), and ...
, about the exploits of
Maurice Flitcroft
Maurice Gerald Flitcroft (23 November 1929 – 24 March 2007) was a British golfer.
Flitcroft, who had never attempted a round of golf in his life, received widespread attention after shooting a score of 121 in the qualifying competition for t ...
. The screenplay by
Simon Farnaby
Simon Farnaby (born 2 April 1973) is an English actor, comedian and writer. He is a member of the British Horrible Histories troupe in which he starred in the television series ''Horrible Histories'', ''Yonderland'' and ''Ghosts''. He has writte ...
was based upon the biography ''The Phantom of the Open: Maurice Flitcroft, The World's Worst Golfer'' by Farnaby and Scott Murray. The film stars
Mark Rylance
Sir David Mark Rylance Waters (born 18 January 1960) is a British actor, playwright and theatre director. He is known for his roles on stage and screen having received numerous awards including an Academy Award, three BAFTA Awards, two Laurenc ...
,
Sally Hawkins
Sally Cecilia Hawkins (born 27 April 1976) is an English actress who began her career on stage and then moved into film. She has received several awards including a Golden Globe Award and the Berlin International Film Festival's Silver Bear for ...
,
Rhys Ifans
Rhys Ifans (; born Rhys Owain Evans; 22 July 1967) is a Welsh actor and musician. He was the frontman of Welsh rock music bands the Peth and Super Furry Animals. As an actor, he is best known for his roles in ''Notting Hill'' (1999), ''Kevin & ...
, Jake Davies, Christian and Jonah Lees,
Mark Lewis Jones
Mark Lewis Jones (born 31 August, 1964) is a Welsh actor, whose roles include that of a First Order Captain Moden Canady in '' Star Wars: The Last Jedi'', a police inspector in BBC drama series '' 55 Degrees North'', a whaler in the film '' Ma ...
and Johann Myers.
''The Phantom of the Open'' had its world premiere at the
65th BFI London Film Festival on 12 October 2021, and was released in the United Kingdom on 18 March 2022, by
Entertainment One
Entertainment One Ltd., trading as eOne, is an American-owned Canadian multinational entertainment company. Based in Toronto, Ontario, the company is primarily involved in the acquisition, distribution, and production of films and television se ...
. It received positive reviews.
Cast
*
Mark Rylance
Sir David Mark Rylance Waters (born 18 January 1960) is a British actor, playwright and theatre director. He is known for his roles on stage and screen having received numerous awards including an Academy Award, three BAFTA Awards, two Laurenc ...
as
Maurice Flitcroft
Maurice Gerald Flitcroft (23 November 1929 – 24 March 2007) was a British golfer.
Flitcroft, who had never attempted a round of golf in his life, received widespread attention after shooting a score of 121 in the qualifying competition for t ...
*
Sally Hawkins
Sally Cecilia Hawkins (born 27 April 1976) is an English actress who began her career on stage and then moved into film. She has received several awards including a Golden Globe Award and the Berlin International Film Festival's Silver Bear for ...
as Jean Flitcroft
*
Rhys Ifans
Rhys Ifans (; born Rhys Owain Evans; 22 July 1967) is a Welsh actor and musician. He was the frontman of Welsh rock music bands the Peth and Super Furry Animals. As an actor, he is best known for his roles in ''Notting Hill'' (1999), ''Kevin & ...
as Keith Mackenzie
* Jake Davies as Michael Flitcroft
* Christian Lees as Gene Flitcroft
* Jonah Lees as James Flitcroft
*
Mark Lewis Jones
Mark Lewis Jones (born 31 August, 1964) is a Welsh actor, whose roles include that of a First Order Captain Moden Canady in '' Star Wars: The Last Jedi'', a police inspector in BBC drama series '' 55 Degrees North'', a whaler in the film '' Ma ...
as Cliff
* Johann Myers as Willie
*
Nigel Betts
Nigel Betts is an English actor, who from 2003 to 2007 appeared on the ITV soap opera ''Emmerdale'' as Eddie Hope. He also portrayed Tony in the BBC Two sitcom '' Boy Meets Girl'' and had a recurring role as Mr Armitage in the eighth series of ' ...
as Tony Marsh
*
Steve Oram
Stephen John Oram is an English actor, comedian, writer, and filmmaker. He is known for his role in the 2012 film ''Sightseers'', which he also co-wrote.
Life and career
Oram was born in Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, England.
He started as a ...
as Gerald Hopkins
* Tim Steed as John Pegg
*
Simon Farnaby
Simon Farnaby (born 2 April 1973) is an English actor, comedian and writer. He is a member of the British Horrible Histories troupe in which he starred in the television series ''Horrible Histories'', ''Yonderland'' and ''Ghosts''. He has writte ...
as Lambert
Production
In May 2020, it was announced
Craig Roberts
Craig Haydn Roberts (born 21 January 1991) is a Welsh actor and director. He is best known for lead roles as Oliver Tate in the coming-of-age comedy-drama film '' Submarine'' (2010) and David Meyers in the series ''Red Oaks'' (2014–2017), and ...
would direct the film, from a screenplay by
Simon Farnaby
Simon Farnaby (born 2 April 1973) is an English actor, comedian and writer. He is a member of the British Horrible Histories troupe in which he starred in the television series ''Horrible Histories'', ''Yonderland'' and ''Ghosts''. He has writte ...
based upon his biographical book ''The Phantom of the Open: Maurice Flitcroft, The World's Worst Golfer''. Flitcroft's son, James, was used as a consultant.
In June 2020,
Mark Rylance
Sir David Mark Rylance Waters (born 18 January 1960) is a British actor, playwright and theatre director. He is known for his roles on stage and screen having received numerous awards including an Academy Award, three BAFTA Awards, two Laurenc ...
joined the cast of the film. In October 2020,
Sally Hawkins
Sally Cecilia Hawkins (born 27 April 1976) is an English actress who began her career on stage and then moved into film. She has received several awards including a Golden Globe Award and the Berlin International Film Festival's Silver Bear for ...
,
Rhys Ifans
Rhys Ifans (; born Rhys Owain Evans; 22 July 1967) is a Welsh actor and musician. He was the frontman of Welsh rock music bands the Peth and Super Furry Animals. As an actor, he is best known for his roles in ''Notting Hill'' (1999), ''Kevin & ...
, Jake Davies, Christian Lees, Jonah Lees,
Mark Lewis Jones
Mark Lewis Jones (born 31 August, 1964) is a Welsh actor, whose roles include that of a First Order Captain Moden Canady in '' Star Wars: The Last Jedi'', a police inspector in BBC drama series '' 55 Degrees North'', a whaler in the film '' Ma ...
and Johann Myers, joined the cast of the film, with
Entertainment One
Entertainment One Ltd., trading as eOne, is an American-owned Canadian multinational entertainment company. Based in Toronto, Ontario, the company is primarily involved in the acquisition, distribution, and production of films and television se ...
set to distribute in the United Kingdom.
Principal photography
Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production.
Personnel
Besides the main film personnel, such as actor ...
began in October 2020.
Release
In July 2021,
Sony Pictures Classics
Sony Pictures Classics Inc. is an American film production and distribution company that is a division of Sony Pictures. It was founded in 1992 by former Orion Classics heads Michael Barker, Tom Bernard and Marcie Bloom. It distributes, produc ...
acquired the North America, Thailand, France and China rights to the film. It was released in the United States on June 3, 2022.
''The Phantom of the Open'' had its world premiere at the
65th BFI London Film Festival on 12 October 2021.
Reception
On
review aggregator
A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, 86% of 134 critic reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.10/10. The website’s critical consensus states, "Led by a stellar performance from Mark Rylance, ''The Phantom of the Open'' turns a stranger-than-fiction true story into crowd-pleasing entertainment."
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 65 out of 100 based on 11 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews”. ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
''s Simran Hans rated the film 4/5, praising Rylance's decision to play his character straight, and complimenting the accompanying musical score.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Phantom of the Open, The
2021 films
2021 comedy-drama films
British biographical films
British comedy-drama films
British Film Institute films
BBC Film films
Entertainment One films
Sony Pictures Classics films
Films based on biographies
Films directed by Craig Roberts
2020s English-language films
2020s British films