'Seven Days in Utopia' Golf Movie
Seven Days in Utopia is a movie released in 2011 that stars Robert Duvall and Lucas Black and is based on a book by golf mental coach and teambuilding speaker David Cook. The movie (and the book it is based on, as well as follow-on products) is a heavy mix of Christian theology with familiar sports-movie themes. Watch the trailer above.
Buy the 'Seven Days in Utopia' DVD or Blu-ray
- Release date: September 2, 2011
- MPAA rating: G
- Run time: 1 hour, 40 minutes
'Seven Days in Utopia': What's It About?
Lucas Black stars as Luke Chisolm, a young golfer with his sights set on PGA Tour success. He finds himself in contention at a tournament only to suffer a very public disaster. Unable to deal with the pressure, his confidence shattered, he retreats from the spotlight and winds up in tiny Utopia, Texas.There he meets eccentric rancher Johnny Crawford, played by Robert Duvall. But Johnny, it turns out, it just what Lucas needed. The rancher imparts his profound way of looking at life to the young golfer, helping Lucas see things in a different light. Lucas is forced to confront his past choices, and his plans for the future.
What the Critics Say
There is a major split among the three, major online aggregators of critic reaction. Seven Days in Utopia has a good 6.1 (out of 10) rating on IMDB. But it gets only 15% on Rotten Tomatoes (but 68% from viewers), and 37% on Metacritic. Robert Duvall, one of his generation's finest actors, is the one thing about the movie that critics agreed upon: he's excellent.
Cast Listing
The Seven Days in Utopia principal cast and crew members are:- Director: Matt Dean Russell
- Producers: Mark Mathis and Jason Berman
- Writers: David Cook, Rob Levine, Matt Dean Russell and Sandra Thrift
- Robert Duvall as "Johnny Crawford"
- Lucas Black as "Luke Chisolm"
- Melissa Leo as "Lily"
- Deborah Ann Woll
- Brian Geraghty
- Kathy Baker
- KJ Choi
- Joseph Lyle Taylor
- Madison Burge
The Movie is Based on the Book
The film is based on David L. Cook's book entitled Golf's Sacred Journey: Seven Days at the Links of Utopia.The book is published by Zondervan, whose website includes this description: "As the story unfolds, we—along with the pro—learn lessons about golf and life that we never expected to learn in places we never expected to learn them. Many have picked up Seven Days in Utopia looking for the secret to a better game but instead found the secret to a meaningful life."
Cook has written several other golf books, including Golf's Sacred Journey, the Sequel: 7 More Days in Utopia and The Psychology of Tournament Golf.
