The Phantom of the Open – 8

I laughed, then I cried, then laughed then cried some more. With so many laugh-out-loud one-liners and tried-but-true heart tugs, it was easy to overlook the absurdities in the amazingly “based-on-a-true-story” plot (to begin with, that Maurice Flitcroft could shoot a 123 in his first round of golf). Mark Rylance is pitch-perfect in the role of a middle-aged naif who shoots for the stars, and Sally Hawkins is at her empathetic nicest as his wife. The disco-dancing sons are a treat, as well.