As I was enjoying the breezy delights of the unabashedly sentimental and consistently funny Apple TV+ golf comedy/drama series “Stick,” I couldn’t help but think of Ron Shelton’s 1996 “Tin Cup,” the best movie ever set on the links. In broad strokes (pun unavoidable), the parallels are clear:
- In the film, Kevin Costner’s Roy “Tin Cup” McAvoy is a former golf prodigy who imploded on the course and has been reduced to swilling Shiner Bock beer and operating a broken-down driving range in West Texas. Roy’s one true friend is his former caddy Romeo Posar, played by Cheech Marin.
- In “Stick,” Owen Wilson’s Pryce “Stick” Cahill is a former golf prodigy who imploded on the course and has been reduced to swilling Hamm’s beer and working in a sporting goods store in Fort Wayne, IN. Pryce’s one true friend is his former caddy Mitts, played by Marc Maron.
- The antagonist in “Tin Cup” is the handsome and slick David Simms (Don Johnson), who never had Roy’s raw talent but has become an enormous success because he worked the system and played by the rules.
- The antagonist in “Stick” is the handsome and slick Clark Ross (Timothy Olyphant), who never had Pryce’s raw talent but has become an enormous success because he worked the system and played by the rules.
Both stories also feature a mobile home, barroom prop bets, and cameos from high-profile pro golfers, as well as the renowned commentator Jim Nantz. Where “Stick” veers away from “Tin Cup” is the former’s overall tone, which eschews even the hint of cynicism. Created by Jason Keller (who wrote the screenplay for “Ford v Ferrari”), with series lead Wilson also serving as executive producer, “Stick” embraces clever, snappy sitcom banter while serving up a cocktail of sports comedy and warm-hearted dramatic beats that, while undeniably moving, come perilously close to getting mired in a saccharine sand trap.
Set primarily across the heartland but filmed in Vancouver, “Stick” opens with a montage of real-life golfing greats through the years, as Wilson’s Pryce’s says in voice-over, “There’s a moment when you’re out on a golf course and the sun is sitting just right in the sky, where if you blur your eyes, heaven and earth meet…” It’s a beautiful sentiment, setting the table for many a sun-dappled golf scene. Still, we’re constantly reminded that golf is arguably the most frustrating individual sport ever conceived—“a good walk, spoiled,” as Mark Twain may or may not have once said. Pryce is a career hustler and Hall of Fame screw-up who leans on a wry sense of humor to get through the day—a role tailor-made for Wilson’s skill set—but there’s also a depth and a heaviness to Pryce’s persona, for reasons best left for the viewer to discover.
When Pryce discovers a raw but explosive talent in 17-year-old Santi Wheeler (Peter Dager), it sets in motion of chain of events that leads to Pryce becoming Santi’s coach as they hit the road and play in a series of state and sectional tournaments, with the goal of getting Santi to qualify for the U.S. Amateur. Pryce’s former caddy, the cynical and world-weary Mitts (Maron), reluctantly agrees to provide transportation in the form of his ramshackle RV, with Santi’s divorced mom Elena (a scene-stealing Mariana Trevińo) and Elena’s three scruffy and adorable dogs along for the trip as well.
The found-family road-trip adventure eventually expands to include the free-spirited, gender-fluid Zero (Lilli Kay from “Rustin” and “Yellowstone”), who lost their job after pouring a pitcher of beer on a toxic, grabby male golfer. Zero takes an instant liking to Santi and holds the older generation responsible for all the world’s problems. While Kay is a gifted actor, the role sometimes feels over-written, as when Mitts is firing up the grill and Zero expresses their disdain:
Mitts: “Are you anti-meat?”
Zero: “I’m anti-industrial agriculture. I mean, livestock production accounts for, like 15% of global greenhouse emissions…the burps, farts and shits of innocent heifers are stealing our future, so I just don’t want to be complicit in that.”
Fair point—but also please excuse me as I go scream into a pillow.
As Santi experiences somewhat predictable ups and downs on the tour, we get to know and like the core five as they clash and bond and reconcile, rinse and repeat. Olyphant does his devilish-grin thing as Pryce’s onetime rival, who parlayed his moderate success as a pro golfer into a lucrative business mentoring young players. The ever-charming Judy Greer pops in and out as Pryce’s ex, Amber-Linn, who is still enormously fond of him but tells him early on in the story, “I don’t want to spend the rest of my life watching you waste yours.”
Pop culture references are sprinkled throughout, from dialogue about “Pretty Woman” and “The Hurt Locker” to precisely timed needle drops ranging from “La Grange” by ZZ Top to “My Sharona” by The Knack to The Who’s “Baba O’Reilly” to “Waiting for Changes” by The Blue Things. As a sport, golf doesn’t have the baked-in drama of football or baseball or basketball, but the visuals are spiced up through the use of P.O.V. and overhead drone shots, and Wilson and Dager have decent enough swings for us to believe they can rip a drive off the tee or sink a 14-foot putt for birdie.
“Stick” shares some foundational plot and character DNA with Apple TV+ standouts “Ted Lasso” and “Shrinking.” But while it doesn’t match the depth of writing or the emotional resonance of those series, it’s a solid and satisfying effort with the potential for a multi-season run.
All 10 episodes were screened for review. First three episodes now on Apple TV+ with new episodes weekly.
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