The Eagle and the Albatross

I rented this movie on a whim. I wasn't expecting much (because 2020 has been a hell of a year), but honestly I was blown away by this movie. Sure, it's kinda corny. But it was corny in the best way possible. You don't have to be a golfer to fall in love with this movie. The cast pulled off something amazing. Hats off the fine ladies and gentlemen who made this movie possible.

For the life of me, I don't know how films this horrible get made. There isn't anything about it that is remotely decent. First of all, absolutely no one in the movie can act. No one. They all should devote their careers to being extras. The acting is cringeworthy.

Second of all is the writing. It's beyond horrible. It seems like it was written by a bunch of 10-year olds. I mean it's 2023. And you're still writing about golf where the funniest jokes are references to balls? Are you serious? I don't think I made ball jokes when I was in third grade.

And I have to admit, this was the rare movie where I had to quit about half way into it. It was that bad. But if you want to see how NOT to make a movie, check this stinker out.

I should have know when it gut high ratings when only 90 people rated it. All friends of the actors and the crew. Moviejunkiemark.blogspot.

I watched Eagle and the Albatross with my daughter as she is a huge fan of the lead actress. My verdict of this movie a fun watch when you want to feel good and have a laugh at crude humor. My personal opinion is that the cinematography was really well done, the dialogue and overall script needed a bit more improvement, and the score and editing where both were a hit or miss- sometimes really well done, sometimes lacking. Overall, I feel like the acting was probably the highlight of the film. There is one scene particularly between the two lead cast members that solidifies this belief. With a bit of script adjustments I feel like Eagle and the Albatross would've excelled even more. However, for a relatively amateur film I feel like it delivered exactly what it intended. For that I'll happily give it praise.

To be honest, the only good part of the movie that I liked was Ji-min and Dan's relationship throughout the movie. That's was the part I was expecting and everything really caught me WAY off guard. I was expecting something like Seven Days in Utopia, but I was hit with a level of maturity like from the movie Sausage Party. I appreciate that they were putting in representation for the LGBTQ community, but all they did was fetishize it. Everything was cliche as hell. EVERYTHING. I was expecting something wholesome and I got this. I just wanted a nice golf movie. That's all I was expecting.

I've spent plenty of time on golf courses and the movie's total disregard for golf etiquette and customs bothered me. This movie was an insult to golf courses and country clubs as the people just didn't look or act like the ones you'd expect to see at such a venue. How many times were people talking during someone's back swing or standing close to the person when they're addressing the ball? During the tournament, which was announced as a shot-gun where everyone tees off on different holes, everyone lined up at the first hole and waited for each group to tee off? Couldn't they have hired some actors that actually played golf instead of a bunch of hackers that looked like they had never picked up a golf club, including the lead actress? (I cringed watching the actors swing, before the camera cut away, as you could tell they barely hit the ball.) Couldn't they have hired someone who's actually worked at a golf course as a technical advisor? The 9-hole course and clubhouse itself looked like a mediocre, small, public course, not a real 18-hole course that one could actually sell private memberships to. Aside from the poor setting and lack of realistic details, the story itself was pretty cute, albeit somewhat offensive at times with the oriental/Korean jokes and the gay woman. The back story of the lead actress was never really explained, i.e. She was apparently born in Korea but spoke English like she was raised in the US. Only good part was Dan Lauria who had a passable golf swing for someone.in their 70's. Adrienne Barbeau was almost unrecognizable from her days as a well-known actress in the 70's and 80's.