Missing something. These two words sum up Seven Days in Utopia. Missing something…like the last 5 minutes of the movie. It’s just kind of important that movies wrap up. I hold a personal vendetta against movies with cliffhangers, and this is by far the worst ending to a movie I have ever endured. Seven Days in Utopia was released Sept. 2.
What kind of a world do we live in when in order to properly finish a movie, we have to go to a website and watch a video. All 7 minutes and 49 seconds. There is a reason we go to the movie. To watch the movie. This being said, I still enjoyed it. The beginning was good, the middle was great, but the ending does not exist. Literally. Where the end would be is simply a url address and a goodbye.
The movie starts with the frustration of young golfer Luke Chisolm (Lucas Black) after he loses a golf tournament on the last hole. Due to the bad advice of his caddy (his father) he blows his lead and is the brunt of jokes at the water cooler. He drives by the small town of Utopia and crashes his car after being distracted by a man taking care of a golf course.
He then meets Uncle Johnny Crawford (Robert DuVall) and is introduced to the townspeople. He finds that Johnny is a very well respected man in the small Christian community, and he also meets his love interest, Sarah Hawkins (Melissa Leo). Johnny challenges him to a seven day experience that he will never forget, which Luke accepts. The erratic week teaches Luke about golf, life, and faith and he adopts the mantra “See it, feel it, trust it”.
The acting was very hit and miss. Black’s performance was not bad, but lacked real emotion. Thankfully, he actually plays the sport he plays in the movie, unlike many sport movies ( see Dwayne Johnson in The Game Plan and Dennis Quaid in The Rookie). Being an athlete, myself, it’s frustrating to see actors waddle around a field trying to look genuine, when they just look flat out stupid.
Leo delivered a performance that could be called mediocre at best. Filled with cliche lines, her lines make her character extremely boring. She practically throws herself at Luke, much to the chagrin of her admirer — an all-american cowboy played by Brian Geraghty.
The camera work was good, completing the challenge of filming from obscure angles while not making it look awkward. The score is well balanced, keeping the feel of the movie light and enjoyable. This, however is slightly annoying because nothing bad happens. The movie is just a lot of fluff.
The main problem is that nothing happens. I kept on waiting for something to happen, but the only thing I found was a rainy scene peaking with the most cliche line of all time: “You don’t know anything about my father!”
Despite all of this, I was glad to find a nice, Christian movie among the loads of trashy media out there today. This movie is perfect if you want a clean, heartwarming hour and 40 minutes on a rough day. So I leave you with this: did he make the putt?
Running for 105 minutes, Seven Days in Utopia is rated G. It is currently playing at most local theaters. For tickets and showtimes, visit Fandango.
