After the usual paparazzi gathering and media interviews around the arriving stars, guests moved into a packed Cobb theater listening to a brief presentation by host Dennis Rice, former marketing exec for Miramax, Disney and United Artists, introducing the project and then author and sports psychologist Dr. David Cook. Dr. Cook gave a little history of the project and then introduced the many people involved in making the movie a reality. Dr. Cook praised first time director Matthew Dean Russell, saying that he felt Russell could be the next Spielberg and giving him credit for his creative talents and attention to detail making the golf scenes true to form.

Once the lights went down, the atmosphere was electric with people clapping and cheering for the many production names as they rolled in the opening credits. Throughout the movie, people laughed out loud, chuckled and even shed a few tears. As many said out loud, this is not a golf movie, it’s a movie about life. It just happens to have golf in it! And as you watch the real PGA golf pros hitting it right there with the actors, this is possibly the best presentation of golf in a feature film…..ever!  

Lucas Black as a real-life scratch golfer brought amazing authenticity to the golf scenes and the fact that he hails from the south gives his performance great credibility. And Academy Award winner Robert Duvall, although not a golfer, did what he does best and acted the part of former golf pro and mentor beyond compare. While the golf story is prevalent in the book, the movie version with the addition of a love interest in the small town of Utopia played by Deborah Ann Woll and a few local cowboys that give Luke a hard time, make for an entertaining yet meaningful experience for everyone from families, kids, parents, golfers and cowboys.

The background score is seamless, produced by composer Klaus Badelt of Pirates of the Caribbean fame. Klaus specific wove music into the score that included Third Day’s “Born Again” song that is a major theme toward the end of the movie as Luke comes to his senses about what is really important in life (spoiler – it’s NOT golf!).

This is one of those rare instances where the movie could actually be better than the book, or at least different in a good way for attracting a larger audience. The book has a big following with golfing aficionados and pros alike without the typical commercial writing/selling techniques of summer romance novelists. What the movie does is add depth to the story by inviting everyone, through the interaction between Johnny (Robert Duvall) and Luke (Lucas Black) to experience the pieces of life that make us who we are and how we choose to get there. This movie brings us the truth through Johnny’s wisdom of “See it, feel it, trust it.” And isn’t that really what we’d all like to know how to do in our time left here on earth? Seven Days in Utopia is definitely a “Two Thumbs Up!”