The Long Game, 2024.

Directed by Julio Quintana.
Starring Jay Hernandez, Dennis Quaid, Cheech Marin, Julian Works, Jaina Lee Ortiz, Brett Cullen, Oscar Nunez, Paulina Chávez, Gregory Diaz IV, José Julián, Christian Gallegos, Miguel Ángel García, Gillian Vigman, Richard Robichaux, Jimmy Gonzales, Michael Southworth, Mykle McCoslin, Chet Grissom, Boo Arnold, Larry Jack Dotson, Mariana Alvarez, and Heather Kafka.

SYNOPSIS:

In a segregated Texas, five Mexican-American teenage caddies were prohibited from playing at the country club where they worked. Against all odds, they formed their own team, built a one-hole course in the fields, and won the 1957 Texas State championship. Based on a true story.

Golf is a significant focus in director Julio Quintana’s period piece, racially-charged sports drama The Long Game. It’s also not the game that the title is referencing. That would be more of a mental game of when to pull ahead and when to play nice with insecure, racist white people that is, sadly, as relevant as it is today than it was in the mid-1950s for the true story of a scrappy Mexican-American high school golf team who went on to win a Texas state championship.

In a time for sports when minorities were either considered a humiliating form of entertainment or thankless help, this complicated reality at least one of the boys, Joe Trevino (Julian Works), is aware of (and has further reinforced unto him by his father) almost prevents him from joining the team entirely. What good could come from trying to compete with white teens on their turf when the rules will be bent and broken to stack the deck against talented minorities, anyway? Yes, these are sports clichés despite being an unfortunate, unfair true-to-life past, but the filmmakers (which includes a screenplay from Paco Farias, Julio Quintana, and Jennifer C. Stetson based on the novel by Humberto G. Garcia) smartly stay focused on these mindsets.

For one, it’s frustrating that there are minorities here who either feel the need or are talked into playing nice with white people and told that further stoking their flames will only provoke more drama and violence. There is a key moment here where a white teenage golfer is practically saying every racist thing imaginable to one of the Mexican-American players, begging to be punched in the face. We want to see it happen, but when that character is told to stand down, not let the nastiness get to him, and let his actions on the course speak for itself, it’s probably the right call for this era even if we still desperately want to see this kid knocked on his ass. In 2024, however, there would be no excuses or reason to let that racial harassment fly, with the consequences for such a scuffle possibly feeling more balanced. Or maybe I’m talking out of my ass, and the world hasn’t changed all that much. Nevertheless, The Long Game succeeds at inciting such conversations.

It is those smaller, thought-provoking political moments that compensate for what is otherwise a straightforward sports movie about an underdog team of likable kids trying to find their footing in life. Even the presence of Dennis Quaid here as war hero Frank Mitchell with connections and a key to allow his former military squad mate turned high school superintendent JB Peña (Jay Hernandez) access to the golf course for the team to practice is wise enough to never stick with his perspective for too long and go down the dreaded white savior path. The character has a thing or two to learn about complicity in prejudiced behavior and some wartime guilt, none of which overwhelms the rest of the experience.

As for JB, his motives initially aren’t entirely pure. At first, he puts together the team as an alternative punishment for giving teenagers community service, following the recognition that they had thwacked a golf ball through his car door windshield while he was on the road. He sees talent in them, but he also sees an opportunity to coach on the same segregated golf course that denied him a country club membership. From there, he bonds with the kids and enters into several discussions on race relations with them, most of which make up the most engaging aspects of the film. Each kid shows some distinct personality, with one romantic subplot, although those personal elements to the narrative here are less satisfying.

The second half of The Long Game leans into the sporting aspect and golf tournament, although there is still a surprising amount of edge for this film that somehow got away with a PG rating despite numerous instances of harsh language and racial slurs. In the best way, it feels like the PG rating of yesteryear, where movies were allowed to be authentic and challenge younger audiences. It’s moving and inspiring in the expected ways, but also a smart examination of race relations for the time that can be traced to today for further analysis, a time where it’s hopefully okay to punch a racist in the face.

Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★

Robert Kojder is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association and the Critics Choice Association. He is also the Flickering Myth Reviews Editor. Check here for new reviews, follow my Twitter or Letterboxd, or email me at MetalGearSolid719@gmail.com

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