Kevin Costner, Rene Russo, golf and Ron Shelton.

Why Tin Cup is a 90s classic…

We dont write about many romantic comedies on this site.

A couple of reasons.

Firstly, a comfortable majority edge firmly towards the soon-to-be-official Netflix category known as insufferable shit.

Tin Cup, though?

A whole different story.

Sex and golf are the two things you might enjoy even if youre not good at them.

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My personal affinity towards the work of Kevin Costner is something Ive never hidden.

However,Bull Durhamstands tall, the first of Costners films made with writer-director Ron Shelton.

From the off, theres a relaxed confidence toTin Cup.

Its not that its slow, rather its not in a hurry.

It starts, for instance, at a golf driving range where armadillos amble around freely.

But then pretty much everything he sets up in the first third of the movie he stays true to.

In particular, the character of Roy Tin Cup McAvoy.

Its the one about the father and son who both have an accident and end up in different hospitals.

Rene Russo was a regular in blockbuster movies throughout the 1990s.

But I think I like her performance and character inTin Cupbest.

Anyone even vaguely familiar with romantic comedies will see the ingredients assembling a mile off.

Here are two characters who could learn something from each other, and perhaps need to.

Both has something the other doesnt.

Anyway, the third part of the jigsaw is Johnson, in a role once earmarked for Pierce Brosnan.

The status quo is established early on, when he hires a flat-broke McAvoy to caddy for him.

This also establishes and we see this several times over the film the tendency of Costners character to self-destruct.

What I particularly love aboutTin Cupthough is that that never really happens.

You think a guy likes me bothers to worry about the percentages?

Cards on the table, though: I absolutely love the end ofTin Cup.I think its genius.

The stakes are made clear.

Instead, though, he tries the big hit, and completely blows it.

That said, at first, all goes to plan.

Has McAvoys chance gone?

McAvoy, weve been told all along, will blow up at some point, and he seemingly does.

And eventually, hes down to the last ball in his bag.

Instead of playing to win, hes playing to avoid disqualification.

But theres the secret that Hollywood movies often forget: smaller stakes often pay bigger dividends.

Its here when we get the moment where Russos and Costners character traits seem to temporarily reverse.

McAvoy has a moment where he mourns what hes lost.

Sheltons ending trick is complete: McAvoy hasnt won the US open.

Hes won, for want of a better way of putting it, sporting immortality.

Nobody, were told, will remember who won the Open that year.

Everyone will remember the man who took 12 shots to finish the final hole.

Can you think of a modern romantic comedy with a much better final act?

Im not sure I can.

Well,When Harry Met Sally, but that was late 80s.

Thats modern-ish, not modern.

When a defining moment comes along, you define the moment or the moment defines you.

Both he and Kevin Costner also seem to bring the best out of each other.

Its not that Ron Sheltons script needs to, or does, layer dialogue particularly deeply.

Away from Costner and Russo, there are treats elsewhere in the supporting cast.

But its Johnson whos clearly having a ball.

Theres something wholly convincing about his rivalry with McAvoy, and his desire to put him in his place.

Shelton stages two excellent moments to put this across.

Shelton, throughout, adds a slight tension to these scenes without breaking the easy tone of the film.

And when it comes to the US Open at the end, its really quite gripping.

Thats from me, a non-golfer.

ForTin Cup, ultimately, is a film for grown-ups about grown-ups, and not in a pretentious way.