Review by Ruskington

Documentaries about child prodigies can be fascinating but often descend into horror movies as we are invited into the world of tyrannical, sadistic parents and precocious, joyless children destined for a lifetime of therapy.

Fortunately, The Short Game is uplifting and pleasant to watch. The cinematography is beautiful with some wonderful shots of the golf courses drenched in dusky sunlight. The children involved are sweet, charming and quirky. They all have their own eccentricities and generally seem well balanced despite their almost God-given talents. The parents, with one or two exceptions, seem loving and supportive and there were many heart-warming moments.

I do feel however, that it was a mistake to focus on 9 different players for a single film. Had it been a mini-series it might have worked out better, but it felt like they were unable to give enough introspect into the featured children in just 100 minutes. Allan, Zama, Amari and Jed were particularly intriguing characters and I would have liked to learn more about their backgrounds and personalities. The clips of Gary Player and Jack Nicklaus added very little and actually made it feel more like a cheesy feelgood piece than a no-holds barred documentary.