Craig Roberts

The Phantom Of The Open review

Impostor at the Open who'll hack his way into your heart.

The Phantom Of The Open: Gentle comedy makes the cut

True-ish comedy celebrates 'world's worst golfer'.

The Phantom Of The Open review

Dreams ace reality for Mark Rylance's deadpan comic underdog.

Fun, good-natured and schmaltzy: Phantom Of The Open reviewed

A British underdog comedy-drama about the world's worst golfer with lovely, warm, affectionate performances from Mark Rylance and Sally Hawkins.

Mark Rylance is a golfing imposter in feelgood comedy The Phantom Of The Open

Charming film tells the true story of an eccentric amateur who passed himself off as a pro.

The Phantom Of The Open is a very British tribute to failure

Mark Rylance is charming as the golf hoaxer Maurice Flitcroft, but there's not quite enough here to sustain a feature.

The Phantom Of The Open review

Mark Rylance plays an average joe flung into the spotlight in Craig Roberts' good-natured but bland comedy.

The Phantom Of The Open review

Mark Rylance scores again in an amiable golf-centric comedy that mostly manages to stay out of the rough.

Inspired by the true story of Maurice Flitcroft, the British amateur golfer who managed to enter the Open after taking up the sport on whim, The Phantom Of The Open is another of those loveable-loser sagas that have become a tiresome staple of British comedies. Playing Flitcroft as a kind of Forrest Gump-style simpleton who has selflessly deferred his dreams for the sake of his family, Mark Rylance goes for cuddly but veers into condescension while director Craig Roberts overdoes the quirk factor by equating Flitcroft's sudden golfing obsession with some kind of goofy religious awakening. Sally Hawkins and Rhys Ifans co-star.

The Phantom Of The Open review

The Phantom Of The Open is feel-good cinema at its most earnest and doesn't let its handicap overcome its intent.