Seven Days in Utopia

Seven Days in Utopia

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Matt Russell
Produced by Jason Michael Berman
Mark G. Mathis
Co-producer:
Kwesi Collisson
Susan Kirr
Written by David Cook
Rob Levine
Matt Russell
Sandra Thrift
Based on Golf's Sacred Journey: Seven Days at the Links of Utopia by David L. Cook
Starring Robert Duvall
Lucas Black
Melissa Leo
Music by Klaus Badelt
Christopher Carmichael
Cinematography M. David Mullen
Edited by Robert Kamatsu
Production
company
Release dates
  • September 2, 2011 (United States)
Running time
 98 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Box office $4,373,074[1]

Seven Days in Utopia is a religious drama sport film directed by Matt Russell, starring Robert Duvall, Lucas Black, and Melissa Leo.

The film is based on the book Golf's Sacred Journey: Seven Days at the Links of Utopia by Dr. David Lamar Cook, a psychologist who received a Ph.D. in Sport and Performance Psychology from the University of Virginia.[2]

In the movie version, Lucas Black plays Luke Chisholm, a young professional golfer who has a meltdown during a tournament. After shooting 80 in the final round, Chisholm crashes his car into a fence and gets wisdom from Johnny Crawford (Robert Duvall). After some instruction and guidance, Chisholm enters the Valero Texas Open, where he ends up in a playoff with the world's top golfer, T.K. Oh (K.J. Choi).

It was filmed in Utopia, Texas and Fredericksburg, Texas and was released on September 2, 2011 in the United States.

Cast

Reception

The film received poor reviews from critics overall. The Hollywood Reporter noted that "inspirational tale about finding God through golf, 'Seven Days in Utopia' must be given full credit for coming up with something new in movies" and "this homemade, whole milk, finger-lickin'-good, G-rated piece of American cheese isn't the sort of thing most urban viewers are accustomed to consuming but, if Visio Entertainment knows how to reach down-home Christian audiences, 'Utopia' will find open arms across a wide swath of the Bible Belt and through the South."[3] Salon noted that the "bland Christian film squanders Oscar-winning cast" and questioned "why did these talented performers agree to appear in this piece of hokum?"[4] The Guardian described the film as "headed for the long grass."[5]The New York Times described it as "a stultifying hybrid of athletic instruction film and Christian sermon", while Golf.com questioned whether it was "the worst golf film ever made?"[6][7]

Conservative publications provided slightly more mixed reviews. Evangelical periodical Christianity Today criticized the film for "lazily rehashing clichés" and failing to deliver "genuine characters or plausible storytelling,"[8] while the New York Post gave the film two out of four stars and claimed that "it goes down more smoothly than you'd imagine" thanks to Duvall's performance and an "excellent supporting cast."[9] The Arizona Republic described Seven Days as "utterly predictable" and "bland," but also praised Duvall, who "has to be great here just to keep the movie afloat."[10]

References

  1. ↑ "Seven Days in Utopia". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved September 28, 2012.
  2. ↑ "Bio: Dr. David L. Cook", Zondervan Publishing.
  3. ↑ McCarthy, Todd (Aug 28, 2011). ""Seven Days in Utopia":hollywoodreporter". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 21 February 2011.
  4. ↑ Kramer, Gary M. (Aug 31, 2011). ""Seven Days in Utopia": Bland Christian film squanders Oscar-winning cast - Movie shorts - Salon.com". Salon. Retrieved 1 September 2011.
  5. ↑ Heritage, Stuart (10 August 2011). "Seven Days in Utopia – reality scores a bogey". The Guardian (London). Retrieved 1 September 2011.
  6. ↑ Holden, Stephen (September 1, 2011). "Robert Duvall Is Back in the Saddle, Playing a Mentor to a Young Golfer". The New York Times. Retrieved 6 September 2011.
  7. ↑ Beslow, Steve (September 5, 2011). "Is "Seven Days in Utopia" the worst golf movie ever made?". Retrieved 6 September 2011.
  8. ↑ Breimeier, Russ (September 2, 2011). ""Seven Days in Utopia": The life lessons of this allegedly inspirational film are undermined by its clichés.". Christianity Today. Retrieved 9 January 2012.
  9. ↑ Lumenick, Lou (September 1, 2011). "Seven Days in Utopia". New York Post. Retrieved 9 January 2012.
  10. ↑ Goodykoontz, Bill (September 1, 2011). "Seven Days in Utopia". Arizona Republic. Retrieved 9 January 2012.

Further reading

Books

Articles

External links