OT: When are movie directors going to understand about sport movies? (The Long Game)

[Bulldog Bruce]

- Having unathletic looking actors as a golf team makes it more realistic. It's golf- hand-eye coordination and athleticism are often conflated, but rarely should be.

- You don't need a traditionally textbook swing to pass as a good golfer when acting. You just need a balanced and repeatable swing. That is enough to make the play look realistic.
Jim Furyk agrees.

- Anyone that is going to star in a sports movie needs to have some training, if they haven't played the sport. Knowing a few basics makes it so much better.
Just master some basics like...
Shooting a basketball square to the hoop and with wrist flick.
Weight transition when swinging a bat.
Looking up when you have possession of the soccer ball.

First off, watch the movie, because it does not make it more realistic. These five guys were lucky to make contact and this coach was supposed to be impressed with them as players when he initially sees them.

Jim Furyk even though it looks weird has a very coordinated swing.

 

[Bulldog Bruce]

Adam Sandler.
Not kidding.

Golf- Happy Gilmore
Football- Longest Yard
Football- The Water boy
Basketball- Hustle

Sandler is like Keanu Reaves. Fine actors that are passable athletically. You know they can't really do the sport to the level they are portraying, but it is okay to where it doesn't kill the believability.

 

[mstateglfr]

First off, watch the movie, because it does not make it more realistic. These five guys were lucky to make contact and this coach was supposed to be impressed with them as players when he initially sees them.

Jim Furyk even though it looks weird has a very coordinated swing.

I was really just sorta joking about the stereotype of golfers and how a group with poor athletic physique would be more realistic. Its kinda common to hear people point out that you dont need to be in good cardio shape or have athletically impressive performance metrics to be great at golf.
I mean, the nickname of a dude on Tour was Lumpy.


We agree on the swing- you say it needs to be coordinated and I say it needs to be balanced and repeatable. To me, those are saying the same thing.

 

[AlCoDog]

Yea, where he was practicing in the garage right? I can't remember the story line though.

Yep, was awful.

 

[AlCoDog]

I’m supposed to believe this guy was in Heisman contention?

 

[GloryDawg]

unathletic looking? Like this?


GIF

 

[Bulldog Bruce]

I was really just sorta joking about the stereotype of golfers and how a group with poor athletic physique would be more realistic. Its kinda common to hear people point out that you dont need to be in good cardio shape or have athletically impressive performance metrics to be great at golf.
I mean, the nickname of a dude on Tour was Lumpy.


We agree on the swing- you say it needs to be coordinated and I say it needs to be balanced and repeatable. To me, those are saying the same thing.

My definition of athletic is not what most people mean when they call someone athletic. Most people mean they can run fast and jump high and believe that basketball players are the most athletic athletes. I go back to my training in the Physical Education degree I was working towards. There are 7 basic skills.

• Running.
• Jumping.
• Coordination.
• Throwing.
• Catching.
• Kicking.
• Striking.

So I am more about overall body coordination. Hockey players are required to do more athletic skills that any other athlete to do their sport. Baseball players are probably next. Striking is the most difficult skill.

 

[DesotoCountyDawg]

So who is your Mount Rushmore of sports actors. Slap Shot is on another level.
Mine are.
Costner
Burt Reynolds
Woody Harrelson (they said he destroyed Snipes in one on one)
Tie Charlie Sheen ML or David Strathairn in 8 men out
Honorable mention Office edition
Michael Scott Hockey
Kevin Warehouse Basketball

You mentioned Wesley Snipes, for Major League they had to make an effort to hide Snipes’ shortcomings at making baseball plays and hitting. He was awful. I guess he’s just not a very good athlete.

Charlie Sheen admitted that he took performance enhancing drugs to bump up the velocity on his fastball which he could throw about 85 MPH at the time of filming. In 89 the average MLB fastball was 87 MPH so he had a legit major league fastball.

 

[Shane of Pisgah]

Jimmy Chitwood could shoot.

 

[mcdawg22]

Joel McHale needed a football movie. He played TE for U of Washington.

 

[mcdawg22]

I was really just sorta joking about the stereotype of golfers and how a group with poor athletic physique would be more realistic. Its kinda common to hear people point out that you dont need to be in good cardio shape or have athletically impressive performance metrics to be great at golf.
I mean, the nickname of a dude on Tour was Lumpy.


We agree on the swing- you say it needs to be coordinated and I say it needs to be balanced and repeatable. To me, those are saying the same thing.

If I see that left arm anything but straight we are getting another actor.

 

[Darryl Steight]

Netflix has a new movie named The Long Game and it is about a group of Mexican-American young men who won the Texas state golf championship in 1957. It was a fine story. A little formulaic but it pulled at your emotions. However they got the 5 most unathletic actors to play the parts of the players and it just ruined the most dramatic parts of the movie. Not one of them could swing a golf club at all. You would actually see them top it or shank it and they would act as if they just hit a gem.

Hollywood has done better over the years of getting actors who at least look like they could play the sport they are portraying. Why do the artistic people still think how the actors move in sports is not important? I can't imagine they would do a biopic on Judy Garland and have an actress that can't sing or one about Gene Kelly and get someone that can't dance.

To add to this insult of athleticism, in the end, when they did the concluding info on each player, they had actual old movie footage of the guys swinging a golf club. All these guys had lovely swings and could obviously play. The act of playing the sport is important.

Agree 100%. Drives me crazy. My son loves Top Gun, but every time we watch it he's like "why does Maverick throw like a girl?"

But here's the answer to your question. Do you remember the kids in high school that were in drama club and show choir? With some but rare exception, those are the people now making movies. Not exactly loaded with football and baseball players. NTTAWWT, just pointing out the obvious. And I mean the actors themselves, but also the people behind the camera. My daughter who was in show choir wouldn't know a spiral from a knuckleball, and wouldn't care to know the difference. So if she was directing a movie, the way some dude throws wouldn't even register.

 

[HomeBoyDawg]

Netflix has a new movie named The Long Game and it is about a group of Mexican-American young men who won the Texas state golf championship in 1957. It was a fine story. A little formulaic but it pulled at your emotions. However they got the 5 most unathletic actors to play the parts of the players and it just ruined the most dramatic parts of the movie. Not one of them could swing a golf club at all. You would actually see them top it or shank it and they would act as if they just hit a gem.

Hollywood has done better over the years of getting actors who at least look like they could play the sport they are portraying. Why do the artistic people still think how the actors move in sports is not important? I can't imagine they would do a biopic on Judy Garland and have an actress that can't sing or one about Gene Kelly and get someone that can't dance.

To add to this insult of athleticism, in the end, when they did the concluding info on each player, they had actual old movie footage of the guys swinging a golf club. All these guys had lovely swings and could obviously play. The act of playing the sport is important.

Totally agree...kid that played Smalls was awful...waaaaaaaait...