“Seven Days in Utopia” Movie Review

Seven Days in Utopia

The movie comes out this weekend. I’ve read the book, "Golf’s Sacred Journey" by David Cook (who I’ve met). From the previews, the movie is a bit different from the book but that’s expected.

Synopsis: The film follows the story of Luke Chisholm, a talented young golfer set on making the pro tour. When his first big shot turns out to be a very public disaster, Luke escapes the pressures of the game and finds himself unexpectedly stranded in Utopia, Texas, home to eccentric rancher Johnny Crawford. But Johnny’s more than meets the eye, and his profound ways of looking at life force Luke to question not only his past choices, but his direction for the future.

Disclaimer: we have been working with Dr. Cook with some websites related to the movie and book.

My Review

Like I said, the book is better but I liked the movie. They introduced a female lead character. That relationship didn’t get too involved but that’s fine. I like that they kept it G rated. Her character brought in a male rivalry aspect which added something more than what the book had. Parts of the movie moved pretty quickly.

The first sort of flashback sequence they showed was confusing. Later on, the pieces were filled in. I don’t know if that sequence was like that on purpose or not.

The Johnny character (played by Duvall) was probably the highlight of the film. The character was played well by a well known actor. I think having Duvall casted as that character was perfect. Maybe the only better person would have been Sean Connery back in the mid-90s (like his character in Entrapment). Lucas Black also did very well, I thought. The worst acting might have to go to Luke Chisholm’s father. Yeah, he played a hard nosed dad but I didn’t really believe it for some reason.

Each ‘day’ in the movie went kind of fast. I don’t think there was a huge budget for the film though. There were seven days to go through, though. They did save a good amount of time for the last tournament, which was smart. And they did build the "T. K. Oh" character early on. I don’t think that guy had any lines, though, which is kind of funny and it worked out fine. The final chapter of the movie (the open golf tournament) was really well done. The music was great, everything. They definitely spent the most time on that part. Having the Golf Channel involved was a nice touch, too. In the last scenes, you could really feel the emotion. It ended with a pan up from the last putt and they even closed it out nice, tying everything up pretty nice. It ended with the instructions to go to www.didhemaketheputt.com, which, of course, was cool (yeah, we did that website).

More About the Movie

I thought I would list a few trailers and resources for the movie in case you’re interested in seeing it. I would say that it’s really a golfer’s movie. If you’re not too into golf, you’ll still get something out of it but if you’re an avid golfer, you’ll really enjoy it. It’s rated G, which is just great – leave all the junk out. It’s starring Robert Duvall and Lucas Black, who is an actor and golfer.

The movie is playing in Madison – check out theaters and times at MadisonClick.

If anybody wants a book for free, please let me know – I have a bunch! I’ll even pay shipping.

Before Seeing the Movie:

• Movie Website: SevenDaysInUtopia.com
• Book Website: LinksOfUtopia.com
• Twitter | Facebook | YouTube
• Plus, see the trailers below.

After Seeing the Movie:

• Did he make the putt? (and golf course tour)
• Utopia Golf Course
• Buy some stuff

TV Spot / Videos / Trailer:

• didhemaketheputt
• didhemaketheputt com
• Didhemaketheput Utopia